"Ready Boo Bear?" I ask.

"Not yet." Tobin says then she kisses me. "Okay now I am."

"Your lucky we have a game." I mumble.

"We can make out after we win."

"I'm holding you to that."

Tobin and I grab our stuff then leave our room and head down to the team meeting room. Once in the meeting room the two of us sit down and wait for the rest of the team to arrive so we can head to the Parc Olympique Lyonnais and play Germany in the World Cup final.

Eventually everyone gets to the room so everyone then heads to the bus. Once on the bus everyone goes to their normal seats then we set off for the stadium.

I sit in the middle of the bus in my own row while listening to music. Tobin goes and sits with Christen and if I didn't know how much Christen is in love with Alex and if I didn't know her as well as I do then I'd be jealous as fuck of their friendship.

When we get to the stadium all of us get off and walk through the cheering fans then head into the locker room. Once in the locker room I set my stuff down then I put on my hoodie. Next I put my headphones on then I pull the hood over my headphones and grab my phone. I then walk out of the locker room and walk onto the pitch then head to the center circle before I press play and listen to my one song.

While I'm looking around the stadium I see my family sitting with the other families of the national team girls.

Even Carli's husband showed up for the final.

My family notices me and they wave at me, but I ignore them and continue looking around the stadium. When my one song ends I head back into the tunnel and make my way to the locker room. Once in the locker room I remove my headphones, grab my turquoise undershirt and my training top, then I head to a stall to change.

After I'm changed into my undershirt and training top I walk back to my locker then sit down and tape up my hands. Once my hands are taped I wait for a little bit and eventually Kelley comes and sits in my lap. I then run my hands through her long red hair and after a minute of doing this I put my twins hair up into her signature ponytail.

Once I'm done with Kelley's hair I lean forward and rest my head on Kelley's back as she begins the process of painting my nails. Apparently she's painting my thumbs white and the rest of my fingers will alternate between red and blue.

"How many of them do you know?" Mal asks.

"All of them." I say.

"Alright I'm done." Kelley says minutes after she started so I wrap my arms around my twin and hug her.

After our hug the team heads out to stretch and warm up.

Some time later the team finishes warming up so we head back into the locker rooms and change into our kits. Once everyone's dressed Jill does her speech then the starters head to the tunnel while the subs head to the bench.

When I walk to my spot in line I notice, out of my peripheral, all the German players looking at me. I just keep walking to my spot and pay them no mind even when some off my old teammates clap me on the shoulder as they walk to the bench.

I've never understood why people shake hands before they game. I'm trying to beat you so why would I want to be friendly?

A few minutes later we walk out of the tunnel and onto the pitch then we stand for the anthems. After the anthems finish we take a picture of the lineup then Pinoe goes for the coin toss. Seconds later Pinoe comes over and we do our team huddle then everybody runs to heads to their position and waits for the Germans to kick off which happens a few seconds later.

In the 10th minute Marozsán plays a long ball over the defense and Popp chases it down. Knowing Popp can't get there before me I run out to gather the ball and as I catch it on the bounce Popp's boot catches my face sending me down to the ground.

"Astrid are you alright?" Someone asks.

"Does it look like I'm alright." I say into the grass.

"Astrid roll over Dawn needs to look at you." Kelley says then helps me roll over.

Dawn and another trainer look me over then give me the concussion test.

"Alright well there's no blood and you don't seem to have a concussion, but I'd still like you to come out." Dawn says.

"If you think for one minute I'm coming out of this game then you must be out of your damn mind." I say.

"Kelley." Dawn says and looks at my twin.

"If she says she's fine then she's fine."

"Sorry Astrid, but you're done." Dawn says.

"Yeah that's not fucking happening." I say then hold my hand out and my twin helps me up.

After I'm up I walk back to goal and towel my face off then take a drink of water. I then grab the ball and walk towards the ref.

"Where's the foul?" I ask

"Um right there." the ref says a bit shocked.

I nod then place the ball down and wait for the whistle which never comes so I look at the ref.

"What's the hold up?" I ask and she points to Dawn who's still on the field arguing with Kelley.

I decide to put an end to this so I walk over to them.

"Really? We have a game to win. The only way I'm coming off this field is in a bodybag so I suggest either find one or getting off the field." I say then walk back over to the ball.

A few seconds later the whistle blows.

"Fucking finally." I say before I kick the ball back into play.

In the 20th minute Becky passes the ball back to me as the Germans pressure us. I calmly pass the ball to Kelley who is then immediately railroaded by Sara Däbritz which earns us a free kick. Däbritz then stands over my twin and yanks her onto her feet which causes Kelley to get right up in the Germans face.

A bunch of Germans surround my twin so I sprint over to the group and shove some of them away. One of the young Germans sprints towards me and I can see her trying to shove me so I shove her first. The little German girl theatrically falls to the ground and by the look on the refs face she could tell it was a fake.

As some of my teammates arrive to calm the situation I wrap an arm around Kelley and lead her away from the fracas.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Pissed off, but I'm fine." Kelley says.

"Good." I say.

The ref calls me back over and shows me a yellow card then she shows her yellow card to Däbritz and the German girl I pushed. The ref then awards us our free kick, which I completely forgot about, so Abby takes it and launches it up field.

The next 20ish minutes are surprisingly not chippy which is good and they're also quite boring for me since all I have to do is make 4 comfortable saves.

In the 44th minute Popp receives a pass from Sara Doorsoun-Khajeh around 40 yards from my goal. My old friend turns and sprints directly at me as Becky runs with her. Becky tries to disposes the German, but Popp megs the defender then she breezes past her. Popp then sprints towards the box and shoots towards my left. I set my feet and get ready to stop the ball, but Julie comes out of nowhere and at the last second gets a touch on the ball.

The ball ricochet's off of Julie's foot and hits the post. The ball then bounces back towards Popp, but it's closer to me so I run out and smother the ball right before my ex-teammate can get anything on the ball. When I get off the ground I look at Popp and see her looking at me so I wink at her then send the ball up field.

A few seconds later the whistle blows for halftime so I grab my stuff then head into the locker room. Once in the locker room my water bottle is refiled then I go and rest for the rest of the 15 minute half-time break. With about one minute left remaining in halftime I follow my teammates back onto the field and a minute later the whistle blows so we kick off the second half.

In the 54th minute Däbritz plays a cross field ball to Schüller who jumps up and tries to head the ball to Popp, but Schüller's head collides with Crystal. Schüller is fine, but Crystal is very dizzy and stumbles around.

Idiotically, the ref doesn't stop play so I look for the closest German player.

"XANDRA." I shout at my German best friend. "XANDRA."

Popp turns towards me so I point towards Crystal. When Popp sees Crystal her eyes widen then she shouts for the ball. Huth passes her the ball then Popp blasts the ball out of bounds.

The moment Popp blasts the ball I sprint towards Crystal and wrap my arms around her just as she's about to fall down.

"I got you." I say and hold her up.

Crystal's knees start to weaken so as the team and the training staff approach I slowly lower the Left-back to the ground.

"We got this Astrid." Dawn says then she looks at me. "Thank you."

I nod and grab a couple water bottles then walk back to my goal where the other outfield players join me.

"She alright?" Rose asks as the girls drink and pass the water bottle around.

"She's done for the day." I say then everyone looks at me. "I don't think she has a concussion, but I'm pretty sure they're going to take her out for precautionary measures."

"Yeah." Becky says. "Ali's coming in."

Sure enough Ali gets subbed in then she runs over to us and tells us the instructions which is just Kelley moving to left back.

The training staff help Crystal off then Kelley takes the throw in and throws it to me. I then boot it up field to give it to the Germans.

The rest of the second half is very boring for me due to the fact I only had to make 5 saves that were very comfortable.

Once the full time whistle blows I grab my stuff and head over to the bench. Jill tells the outfield players some instructions then we head to our positions and wait for Germany to kick off which happens a few seconds later.

In the 103rd minute Popp drives towards goal and Abby runs with her. As Popp enters the box Abby tries to get the ball, but ends up taking out Popp's feet resulting in a penalty. Once the penalty has been given the German team huddle together so our team huddles together.

"Alright." I say and clap my hands to get everyone's attention. "First off we're fine alright." I say then look at Abby. "You hear me. We're fine."

Abby nods as do some of the other girls.

"Good...Now here's what's about to happen. Popp is going to take this penalty and I'm going to save it. That's a fucking given... Now after I save it I need everyone to hall ass upfield and I'll get the ball to you. All you girls have to do is get the ball in the net."

"Done." Pinoe says with a smirk.

"Come on girls." The ref says and the girls walk to stand outside the box.

I walk back to goal and purposefully walk by Popp.

"Viel glück." I say and keep walking. (Good luck)

As I get on the line I look over Popp and it's blatantly obvious what she is going to do. It's the same thing she always does against me.

A couple seconds later the whistle blows and Popp does her run up and she sticks to her usual penalty technique against me.

She hits it low to my left

I easily save the ball as the team stream forward towards the German goal. After I save the ball I pop up off the ground and run towards the top of the box then drill the ball up field. The ball drops to Christen who races with it up field, but then gets tackled drawing a foul 35 yards from goal.

Pinoe takes the ball then lines up the free kick. Pinoe wait for the whistle and when it blows she sends a ball into the box. A blonde woman rises above all others and gets her head on it to sends towards goal. The German keeper dives and gets a finger to it which is just enough to tip Lindsey's header over the bar.

The ensuing corner amounts to nothing which draws and end to the first half of extra time so we switch sides then Christen kicks off the second half of extra tie.

In the 113rd minute one of the Germans plays a through ball down the left side and Kelley races to get it, but so does Popp.

"RED KELS RED." I yell, but it's too late.

Popp steals the ball from Kelley then runs toward the box then she floats a cross in. I jump up to catch it and as I catch the ball Becky and Marozsán crash into me sending all of us down to the ground in a heap.

"AHHH." I yell after I feel my right knee pop.

I then proceed to roll around on the ground while grasping my right knee.

"Astrid stop. You'll fuck it up even more." Kelley says and sort of pins me to the ground.

"Don't get Dawn." I say through gritted teeth.

"Astrid she has to check you out." Becky says as Dawn approaches.

"I'm not coming out of the game."

"We can talk about that in a second just let me look at it." Dawn says.

Dawn and the trainers then check over my knee and fuck does it hurt.

"Astrid." Dawn says.

"Fuck no." I say then hold my hand out to Kelley.

Kelley helps me up then I limp away from everyone.

"Kelley she needs to get off." I hear Dawn say.

"Just hold on." Kelley says.

A couple seconds later Kelley appears in front of me.

"I'm not going off." I say.

"Astrid why? You've gotten us here. You haven't got anything to prove."

"Just getting us here isn't good enough. And besides we don't have any subs left."

"Sometimes I hate your stubbornness." Kelley says and shakes her head. "There's five minutes left. Are you sure you can keep going?"

"Yes."

"Alright." Kelley says and goes back over to the group. "We don't have subs left so she kinda has to stay."

I, on the other hand, set the ball up for the free kick. After everything is set up and as Dawn walks off the field I look up field and see Tobin looking at me and even from here I can see the worry in her eyes.

"I'm fine." I mouth to her.

Tobin nods and smiles at me.

"ABBY." I yell and get her attention.

I then motion her over to me so she comes jogging towards me.

"Yeah?"

"I need you to kick."

"Oh okay." Abby says then she lines up behind the ball.

The ref blows her whistle so Abby sends the ball up field.

In the 119th minute Carolin Simon gets the ball and jogs with it upfield until she notice Alexandra Popp streaking towards goal so Carolin launches the ball towards Popp. Popp brings the ball down then she continues her run towards goal with nobody challenging her. I come off my line to make the goal smaller and right as Popp gets into the 18 yard box she fires low to the near post.

I stick my closest leg out and the ball ricochet's off my knee and goes out for a corner. Unfortunately, my closest leg is my bad leg so as soon as the ball hits my knee I slump to the ground and grab my knee.

"FUCK." I yell and slam my fist against the ground.

"ASTRID" I hear Kelley yell.

My twin then appears in front of me and tries to help me off the ground.

"Don't." I say.

Kelley sighs, but ultimately she backs up and gives me space. I then slowly get to my feet and get ready for the corner.

Thankfully the corner is shit and Ali clears it up field which causes the ref to blow the whistle signaling we are headed to penalties.

Shit.

When the whistle blows Kelley grabs my water bottle and my towel then she walks towards the sideline as I limp towards the sideline. Once I'm close to the sideline, but away from the team, Kelley approaches me and hands me my water then she joins the team so I can relax and calm my nerves

As I'm relaxing away from the team I notice Kelley looking at me so I look at her then shake my head.

Basically I'm telling her I don't think this will end well.

Kelley sighs before she looks at me and nods with a smile. My twin the points to the side we're on then she points to the US badge and holds up one figure.

She's letting me know that the shootout will take place on our side and that we are shooting first.

I nod then turn and slowly limp towards the goal since it's going to take me a while to get to the goal.

As I get to the goal I am approached by the ref who tells me what I can and can't do. After the ref talks to me she walks towards the penalty spot as Alex approaches. Alex takes the ball from the ref and does her penalty routine. The ref blows her whistle so Alex runs up and shoots low and hard to the left. The keeper dives the wrong way and she watches as the ball hits the back of the net putting us up 1-0 in the penalty shoot out.

After Alex scores I limp into goal and get on the line and wait as Däbritz sets up for her penalty. While she sets up I know that all of the German penalty takers are going to shoot towards my right side because of my bad leg. Däbritz finishes her routine then waits for the whistle and when the ref blows it she runs up and shoots towards my right side.

As Däbritz's foot connects with the ball I dive towards my right and a second later the ball hits my hands and bounces away from the goal. When I see the ball in the refs hands I slowly get off the ground then limp over to the side and drink some water.

Carli is next up so when she gets in the box she grabs the ball and sets up her penalty. When the whistle blows Carli does her run up then she blasts the ball past the German keeper putting us up 2-0 in the penalty shoot out.

The German keeper picks the ball out of the net and tosses it to her teammate Giulia Gwinn as I limp to the goal line. Gwinn sets the ball down then waits for the referee to blow her whistle. When the ref blows her whistle Gwinn does her run up then she shoots toward my right.

As I start my dive to stop the ball my knee buckles which disrupts my dive and sends me crumpling to the ground. I try to stop the ball, but Gwinn's shot goes right past my hand and into the back of the net. I then get off the ground and limp over to the side of the 18 yard box.

Our next two penalty takers are Christen and Tobin and thankfully they both make their penalties. Unfortunately, for me, both Schüller and Magull make their penalties as well so when our fifth penalty taker, which is Lindsey, steps up the shootout score is 4-3. All Lindsey has to do is put this past the German keeper and we win.

Once Lindsey is given the ball she sets up for her penalty then waits for the ref. Once the whistle blows Lindsey does her run up and shoots to the keeper's left. The German keeper guesses the correct direction and she saves the shot. After the save Lindsey looks down at her feet and shakes her head then she heads back upfield.

As my German sister Alexandra Popp walks to the penalty spot I limp onto my line and wait for her to arrive. Once Popp does arrive she sets up her shot then she waits while staring me down. Finally the ref blows her whistle so Popp runs up and shoot low and towards my right, and as I'm diving to stop the ball I realize something.

Popp made a mistake.

Popp's shot isn't close enough to the post to get past me so when I dive towards the right post the ball hits my right knee and spins away from the goal meaning we won the World Cup.

I should be celebrating, but Popp's shot hit my bad knee and it hurts like a bitch.

"ASTRID." I hear the unmistakable voice of my twin yell.

I look towards the sound of her voice and she the whole team sprinting towards me. Kelley is the first one to get to me and when she gets to me she pulls me to my feet then she wraps her arms around me.

"You did it." Kelley says into my chest