Million Reasons (Miniminter)

49

I woke up quite early and decided to have a chocolate protein shake before going for an hour long run around the park. Once I got back I turned on the TV and saw the pundits were already at Wembley and speaking about the game which started in a few hours time. It still amazes me that the likes of Gary Lineker, Paul Scholes and Ian Wright all know who we are, and could even be a fan.

During the whole day I wasn't feeling the pressure until I was in the tunnel and saw the Birmingham team for the first time. That's when I first realised that the next 90 minutes means a lot, whether we are going to go home FA Cup champions or going home with second place. As I stepped onto the pitch I took a deep breathe and looked around not seeing an empty seat throughout the stadium.

Kelly called us all over to her and made a small huddle, she told us to keep faith and play as well as we know we can and we will win it. As we broke away the fans applauded, I spotted Claire and George in their normal seats which was behind the team bench, they both smiled and put their thumbs up at me. I was too scared to look around anymore to know who was here or who hasn't turned up, I kept my foot on the ball waiting for the ref to blow his whistle.

We were now in the 30th minute and nothing was really happening, Birmingham was going ultra defensive not letting Hannah or I in the game much which was getting us both frustrated as I have hardly touched the ball. Sav kicked a long ball down to Hannah which made her run towards the ball with her defender marking her, I followed beside her on the right so she had someone to pass to. She made sure she was on side before passing it over to me, I controlled the ball and ran into the box and shot it making it go slightly over the cross bar.

The linesman said it was a corner making everyone get up, G did the corner kick making it go towards the back of the group where both Sav and I were sandwiched in two players each. We all jumped up to try and get contact, I felt a hard connection instantly knowing that I wasn't a ball, I fell on the floor instantly putting my hand on my head noticing that I was bleeding. Sav and Kelly were the first ones to me, Sav was asking if I was alright while Kelly was yelling at the doctors to get on the pitch quickly.

They wrapped a piece of cloth around my head to keep pressure on the cut, they guided me off the pitch so they could check I was alright as it was an head injury.

"Can you tell me your name?" One asked as i sat on the floor keeping my eyes locked on the girls on the pitch.

"Yasmine Lloyd" I stated.

"And Yasmine, can you tell us where we are and why we are here?" He questioned.

I watched as the Birmingham players ran down the left side and crossed it with another teammate smashing it in the back of the net, with the crowd going wild.

"At Wembley for the FA Cup finale, which we are now losing because I am sitting here answering stupid fucking questions" I barked at him.

I jumped up instantly feeling light headed, I stumbled backwards slightly with the medic holding on to me. "I think you have had enough for the day, I'm sorry" he said softly as he nodded at his colleague.

He guided me down the tunnel as his colleague told Pedro the situation. "Ok please sit down" he instructed as he opened the door to the medic room.

I instantly did what I was told and sat down on the table, the crowd was just a faint noise now. He put on his gloves and walked over to me unwrapping the badges off my head to see the damage, his eyebrows closely knitted together.