Cup Countdown! by Sam Kerr & Fiona Harris

Author:Sam Kerr & Fiona Harris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia
Published: 2023-04-05T00:00:00+00:00

Two hours later, I open my eyes to find Dylan and Indi leaning over me.

‘I won’t fall asleep, she said,’ Indi crows. ‘I’m not even tired, she said!’

‘You literally fell asleep three minutes into the movie,’ Dylan grins.

I yawn, stretching my arms above my head. ‘I feel much better after my nap,’ I say. ‘Who’s up for another movie? I’m hungry, too. Did you eat all the popcorn?’

Indi and Dylan both stare at me, shaking their heads.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

EDGEVILLE GROUND

SUNDAY

9.55 am

The big day is finally here – my first game with the Fremantle Saints!

My palms are sweaty, my legs are jittery, an entire swarm of butterflies seems to be whipping around my stomach, and all of this is giving me flashbacks to how I felt before my first game with the Knights two years ago. I try to reason with myself. Back then, I didn’t know anything about soccer at all. At least now I know the rules and what to do out there. That should make me feel better, but I’m not sure if it does. There’s a pressure now to be at the top of my game, and that’s something that wasn’t there two years ago. Maybe Nana’s favourite saying is right – maybe ‘Ignorance is bliss’!

I think back to yesterday’s game with the Knights. We played against the Quokkas and lost, but it was still awesome fun. The pitch was so wet it had pretty much turned into a swamp from all the rain the night before. We were slipping and sliding all over the place, and by the end of the game we were covered in so much mud that we looked like creatures from the black lagoon (an old movie Dad loves).

At one point, Dylan had gone to kick the ball, slipped over and slid about three metres on his bum in a mud slick. Toby and I had doubled over laughing, and James cracked up so much that he accidentally let a goal go straight through into the net!

Ted was not happy.

Still, even though we lost 5–3, I scored two goals. It was a huge confidence boost for me, which I’m definitely going to need for today’s game. Abbie told me at training on Wednesday night that Red Thunder, the team we’re playing today, are tough.

‘Tough as,’ Abbie had said, as we kicked the ball back and forth in one of our warm-up drills. ‘Last time we played them, two of our girls had to come off with sprained ankles.

After hearing that, I’m not too upset about being off for the start of the game. I’m happy to be able to watch and figure out how our opponents play before getting out there.

The game starts out okay and we seem evenly matched, but then Red Thunder just come alive! It’s like someone suddenly plugs them into a 100-watt amplifier and they all start buzzing. Every single girl on the team seems to increase their speed by about fifty per cent, and they’re so fit that

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