Y/N POV

I figured time before the England game would pass by slower than a snail, but man I was wrong.

Before I even had the chance to blink, all of a sudden it was Tuesday, and we were waking up at the ass crack of dawn to eat breakfast then head over to the stadium.

The family drama I had been dealing with hadn't really ceased, but I forced myself to push it to the back of my mind and focus on the game. This was a huge deal, and if we won we'd be going to the finals. I was adamant that there was no way in hell I'd allow myself to slip up and jeopardize our position.

The bus ride over to the venue was a lot more fun than I had expected it to be. I sort of assumed that with the growing pressure on our shoulders, people would be dead quiet and in the zone, but I guess after knowing this team for eight months, I should have expected them to do the complete opposite.

People were loud and excited, blasting music and dancing. At one point Jill and Dawn did the wave at the front, which was passed all the way back to Alex and I.

It really helped to ease my nerves, and I could tell from the attitude of my teammates that they were all extremely confident in our ability to win.

Things did calm down a bit as we pulled into the tunnel; that's when people put their headphones in and got their game faces on. Of course, that didn't stop Alex, Allie, and I from doing our every game ritual of doing something funny as we loaded off the bus to the camera guy filming us.

We had started doing it after our game against Belgium back in April, then did it again at the game against South Africa, and continued doing it before the New Zealand, Mexico, Thailand, and Chile games. Then it became our pre game tradition.

It's hard to believe that in the span of just a few months, we've beaten eleven teams. Eight of them being shut outs.

I still think about the Thailand game, where we crushed them 13-0. That was insane. I couldn't believe how well we had performed.

Alex scored five goals that day, and I couldn't have been more proud of her.

Speaking of Alex, though, today also happens to be the forward's 26th birthday, and you know the team has a big celebration planned for her after the game tonight.

Looking at our record so far this season, it was clear our team was the favorite to win the gold, and I just hoped we could deliver.

Heading into the locker room was when things started to become more tense. The crowd was already so loud we could hear them as we changed.

The coaches and captains gave us their usual speeches before it was time for everyone to line up in the tunnel with our player escorts.

Per tradition, the opening ceremony with the national anthems and all that happened, before it was finally time for kick off.

As soon as the starting whistle was blown, the action started immediately, England having possession of the ball first.

Possession between the two teams was fairly equal for the first few minutes, but, during the 10th minute, Kelley broke free from the English defenders, running as fast as she could down the left side of the field while Christen ran up the right, going into the box.

Kelley delivered a beautiful cross, and Christen was able to head it into the goal. The ball hit the back of the net and the stadium erupted in celebration from our team and the US fans.

Not even ten minutes after that, England managed to cross the ball to their star striker, Ellen White, who fired off a shot to the upper right corner of the goal before I could dive to block it.

The score was tied 1-1 in the 19th minute, but we brought it back in the 31st minute when Christen passed to Lindsey, who launched the ball over to Alex, who stood in the box waiting. Alex went for the header and got it, scoring a second goal for the team.

Her celebration was sipping tea, which I found to be quite funny, and knew that it was a reference to an inside joke she had with Kelley and Allie about 'that's the tea'.

I was glad Alex was able to score a goal on her birthday. What could be better than that?

The game continued on, and England picked up their pace, holding more possession and making more passes in an effort to sneak past our defense.

At the 39th minute, Alex was running up the center of the field, ball at her feet, when England's Millie Bright hit her in the face, sending her to the ground.

I wanted to run out of the goal and go up to my girlfriend to see if she was okay, but I knew I couldn't do that, nor could I kick the shit out of Bright for hurting Alex.

Luckily though, the ref wasn't blind, and Bright received a yellow card.

With that having happened, I was now even more motivated to finish the game and kick England's ass.

We went into half time with the same score, and I checked on Alex in the locker room.

"You okay, Lex? I swear to god I'll beat Bright's ass."

The blue eyed woman chuckled with a nod. "I'm fine. It was just unexpected, and she hit me in the eye."

I shook my head angrily. "Baby, calm down. I'm fine. See?" She showed me her face. "No mark."

Seeing that my girlfriend was okay soothed my anxiety, and we headed into the second half feeling pumped up and refreshed.

In the 67th minute, Ellen White shook off our defenders and entered the box, taking a shot in the lower left corner which zipped past me, hitting the back of the net.

I clenched my jaw, angry that I couldn't stop a shot so easy.

However, things took a turn for the better when the ref reviewed the play and saw that Ellen had been offsides when she had taken the shot, which meant the goal didn't count, and the score was back to 2-1, US leading.

Unfortunately, even with that good news came more bad. When the clock struck 79 minutes, Becky fouled White as the striker was running into the box, just about to go for another goal.

That meant England would get a penalty kick.

Both teams took their respective spots behind White, who prepared to take the shot.

The whole stadium was deadly quiet, and I couldn't believe how calm I was. I stared down my opponent, feeling like we were the only two people in the world in that moment.

I took in her body language. Her movements. Her facial expression.

As soon as the ref blew the whistle and Ellen moved, I knew exactly where the ball was going, and I dove without hesitation, falling to the bottom left of the goal, trapping the ball in my arms.

All 60,000 fans screamed, the stadium erupting in cheers, some with excitement, some with disappointment. My teammates rushed over to me, pulling me into a huge hug. As much as I wanted to celebrate though, I knew the game wasn't over yet.

I hugged the ball to my chest, Kelley, Alex, Julie, and Pinoe's arms around me, but the only thing I could think about was finishing the game.

"Go! Go!" I yelled over the noise.

My teammates got the message and headed back out to the center of the field so that we could keep playing.

It was again in the 86th minute when Millie Bright and Alex clashed, the English player slide tackling the brunette who went down hard, clutching her leg.

She was red carded by the ref, and thankfully Alex got up and was able to continue the rest of the game.

Not long after that, the final whistle was blown, and the match ended.

We had beat England 2-1 in the semi finals of the world cup, and would be advancing to finals to play against the winner of tomorrow's semi final match between Sweden and the Netherlands.

I breathed a sigh of relief, the stress leaving my body as my teammates all crowded around me, celebrating the win.

We could barely hear each other over the noise of the crowd, but it was an amazing moment.

After, we thanked England for playing such a great game before heading off to change/do post game interviews.

Alex and Jill had both been called to give field side interviews, which the rest of us watched on the monitors in the locker room, while I was expected at a small press conference after changing.

The noise of the fans could still be heard, now even louder over the screen where Jill was being asked questions first.

"Coach, what a match. You guys left everything out on that pitch- how proud are you of this group right now?"

"I mean- just I can't even express how proud I am. I mean it was just a...such a great effort from everybody, I mean we had some challenges in terms of bodies and everything and everybody stepped up and that's what this team is about. So just incredibly proud of them."

"You knew there was going to be a moment where Y/n Grant was gonna have to make the save of her life. She did it tonight, what did you see from her?"

"I just said I mean, that was her shining moment but we got one more game, I mean what a frickin star- it was unbelievable. But just front to back, I couldn't be more proud of this group of players."

"Heading to the world cup final, what was your message to this group after this match?"

"Well first I said we got four days this time in between, so that'll help a bit, but...um...I just said stay humble, we got one more."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks so much."

I looked around at my friends, who all had massive grins on their faces. "That was one hell of a game, man." Ash said, clapping me on the back.

"Hell yeah it was."

The next person being interviewed was the head coach of the English team, who expressed his pride for his own players, and the disappointment at the loss.

After him, the one and only Alex Morgan came up.

She was smiling ear to ear, hair messy, face beaded with sweat, but she still looked so beautiful.

"Alex, this team never gave up tonight- talk about the heart and fight you saw from your team here tonight."

"Um...I think that we've been seeing it through the tournament, and this is just one more we can add onto...um just incredible by the team tonight and Y/n Grant, she needs to be player of the match, honestly. Like, she saved our ass- sorry, excuse that,"

We all laughed when the brunette grew a little flushed at her slip up.

"Um she saved our butts today and honestly, like, this was such a great game for us to build on, and now we made it to the final. It's what we've been waiting on."

"How did that moment- that save from Y/n Grant, change the momentum of this match?"

"It was huge 'cause I think it was around the 80th minute or so, and so at the time we knew we had to buckle down...uh we couldn't give them anything anymore. We knew that they liked that one touch through ball so we just had to um... stick to our defense and uh...we did that quite well."

"You're heading to the world cup final, how proud are you of this team?"

"So- I mean, so proud. Just- every player has stepped up tonight. Uh... Lindsey Horan who came in, Christen Press who came in- scored with her head, uh... it's incredible just to see these players step up and...our bench is so deep and we showed that tonight."

"Would you say this is the best birthday ever?"

"I would say so, I mean how can you beat this? Yeah. Thanks."

The interview wrapped up, and I checked the time, seeing that I was due at the conference in five minutes.

I had been so distracted by the interviews that I hadn't changed. I quickly pulled off my cleats and shin guards, slipping on a fresh pair of socks and some slides. I figured I could just change once we got back to the hotel, since I could shower there anyway.

"Guys, tell Alex I'll see her on the bus!" I called to my friends as I left the locker room, following Mark down the hall to the media room.

As soon as we entered, the clicks and bright flashes of cameras overloaded my senses.

This was my first press conference, and I hadn't at all expected to see so many news reporters there.

I wished someone else was there with me, but I didn't dwell on it.

Taking a seat at the table at the front of the room, I smiled for the cameras, beginning to answer questions.

"Y/n, what was going through your head tonight during that penalty kick?" One person asked.

"I just knew that this would make or break the game, you know? I knew that I didn't have any other option than to stop that goal."

"Were you nervous?" Someone else questioned.

"Actually, no. It was sort of weird- standing there and everything was quiet. Everything else sort of faded away, and I felt nothing but calm."

"Did you feel like your team was prepared for this match?"

"Oh without a doubt. I think the team has come so far in terms of...in terms of both team work on the field, and off the field. You know one of the biggest factors that the coach always talks about is relationships, and I think that when you know your teammates as well as they know you, you don't really have to worry about communication or anything because you just know what people are going to do."

"Y/n, this is your first season playing professional soccer- how has it been entering right into the national level?"

"It's definitely been pretty scary, you know. A lot of pressure comes with being on the best team in the world, and I wanted to make sure I had what it takes and that I could rise to the occasion and be what the team needed- be what Jill needed."

"Obviously, you're the USWNT's goalie, coming in just a year after Hope Solo quit, can you talk a little bit about how that has affected you?"

"Absolutely, I mean I think Hope was undoubtedly one of best- if not the best, goalkeepers to ever play the game, and that gives me incredibly large shoes to fill in terms of performance and things like that, so it's definitely been difficult, especially when it comes to people constantly comparing me to her, but all I can do is just worry about what I'm doing."

"How do you feel about your teams performance over all throughout the tournament? We saw Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Christen press really step up in terms of offense, and the team's record for goals has been insane, would you say you're proud of the work they are doing?"

"Of for sure. Without a doubt. I couldn't be more proud of the work everyone is doing, and I think both our defense and offense are incredibly solid. We've spent months working on creating a solid back line, and an unstoppable offense, and I really feel like we've done that."

"So, while on the topic of Alex Morgan, there have been reports that the two of you clashed a lot when you first joined the team. Is that still the case? How has your guy's relationship changed over the course of the tournament?"

I held back a laugh, knowing that these news reporters didn't even know the half of it. I only hoped Alex was watching right now, because she'd definitely find it funny.

"Um...yeah I think so. Alex and I both have big personalities, so obviously that's bound to cause some disagreements, but I would say that our relationship has grown and evolved since January."

"We've got time for one more question." Mark announced to the crowd.

"Y/n, will any family members or....special people be attending Sunday's match, for the world cup final?"

This was a question I had somewhat been dreading. Mostly because I didn't know the answer.

"I'm not sure about family, it's always a struggle to travel, but to a whole other country...it's a big step, even if it's only for a few days." I said, more as an excuse than anything. I didn't want to have to explain to these people the reason why my Mom isn't coming. "As for a special person," I said, repeating it the way the reporter had said it, earning some laughs. "I won't comment on that."

I knew it would stir up a lot of drama, but I also didn't want to flat out lie.

"Thank you all so much." Mark said, ending the conference. I smiled and thanked the reporters as I stood from my chair, following the brunette back to the locker room.

Jill was just leaving when we arrived. "Alex took your bag for you." The Brit said with a smile.

"Oh, cool."

"You did an amazing job out there tonight, Y/n. I'm so proud of you." The coach pulled me into a warm hug, one that felt so familiar, it was almost like being home.

"Thank you, coach. I couldn't have done it without you."

Jill pulled away and patted my shoulder. "I appreciate that, Y/n, but you need to give yourself more credit. Good job at the press conference, as well. The team was watching from in here. Everyone's getting onto the bus now, and I've decided to make tomorrow a late training since we've got some celebrating to do."

"Oh awesome. Yeah the team planned a surprise for Alex, I'm assuming Dawn filled you in, right?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm aware of the plan, and I think it's very thoughtful, I think Alex will love it."

"I hope so. We should probably go before they leave without us, though."