(Third person pov)
"I'm sorry Matt, Cara convinced me to play part in her drama. I'm not a mean girl" said Emma, she evaded his eyes, her head hung low.
Matt looked amused, "Cara's fine, she's my cousin. But I didn't know you, and you also told me to burn my shoes and jerseys" said Matt.
Emma's head dipped a little more, "I. I said I'm sorry, I was acting! It was all her plan" said Emma.
"You know I really thought of quitting football" said Matt, making Emma widen her eyes, she looked at him shocked.
"Really!?" She said staring at him.
"Nope" said Matt laughing making her more embarrassed.
"Hey! Stop embarassing Emma" exclaimed Cara from her side, she stepped and hugged Emma protectively.
"You didn't said anything when she was bullying me" said Matt with raised eyebrows.
"I thought, we could do acting together, I didn't wanna leave you alone here playing football. We did everything together since we were small.. I " said Cara, before she could finish she was again hugged by him.
"You should have just said that, I thought you have become high and too cool since becoming famous to talk to me" said Matt.
In his last life, he was a single child, had no cousins he could spoil, he truly loved Cara, and it had hurt him when she had stopped talking to him.
Pandora discreetly clicked another picture of Matt, Cara and Emma hugging eachother, they seperated once they heard the shutter sound.
"No! I thought you were cool! You play piano so good! I started learning piano too. Hey! Stop hugging me, you stink. Now I stink too" said Cara sniffing herself.
"Good, that's your punishment. Sorry Aunty, I gotta go, I have to shower before heading to the bus. How long are you guys in France?" He asked.
"Finals, we'll be seeing you lifting that trophy. I'll click several pictures. Tommorow we'll be heading to Paris, Emma's parents are going to join us" she said smiling.
"See you then, bye" he hugged Cara a little forcefully, who tried to hit him, waved goodbye to Emma and Pandora.
'He didn't say he forgave me' thought Emma as she remembered the conversation, her fist clenched.
Pandora who saw caressed her hair, making Emma look at her.
"Get him and icecream, he'll forget that it ever happened" said Pandora to which Emma nodded.
"I want an ice-cream too!" Exclaimed Cara excited.
"First, you need to shower" said Pandora making her deflate.
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5 May 2004, Somewhere in England.
"Chris! Come here, Look!" Said a woman with grey hair, her face had lines that showed the journey of time.
She giggled and looked at the newspaper in hand again, thanking God each time she read.
"Here, what have got you so worked up in the morning" said the man with similar wrinkles, it seems, she had a partner with her.
"Look" she said handing the papers to the man. He was wearing a loose white shirt and pants, his grey hair messy, it was 8 in the morning after all.
"You're reading a paper? And here I thought I've seen everything" he said with a smirk.
"Then you're about to see something very good" she said with a giddy smug smile.
He went towards the diging table and picked up his glasses.
He adjusted the paper, and glanced at the sports section.
There was a photo, of a very recognisable boy, his own grandson wearing red white running wild with a contagious smile that made his tears leak, but as a strong old man he didn't let his wife see them.
"Read it out loud crybaby" said the woman smiling mischievously.
He sighed, there was smile on his face that betrayed his joy.
"Delevigne Inspires England Under-17s to Victory Over Ukraine", each word made his heart beat, he was feeling adrenaline? He didn't knew.
"Pandora has called me yesterday night, she's taken little Cara to France, support Matt" said Grandma to the man who was still engrossed in reading.
Match Facts
England goals:Campbell (44), Delevigne (48, 63), Porter (54), Noble (73)
Ukraine goals: Rybka (37), Yakovenko (78 pen, 39)
"Delevigne.. he made us proud" said the old man.
'I never thought I would see my name, my blood, tearing apart defenders. I should have supported him back then' thought the man with regret.
"Yes he did! She told me people were singing his name on the ground. It feels so good knowing I gifted him his first football" said the woman, she clasped her hands.
He sighed, he had taunted her once that she was stifling his growth by supporting his football.
'why does she remember that? I swear she would forget the location of tv remote every night' he thought bitterly.
"Martha, it's been a while since we took a vacation, how about a short one, to France" he said glancing at the fixtures.
She looked surprised, her hand went to cover her open mouth, "Really! Pandora's there too, let me call Eva, l have so much to pack, when are we going?" She asked .
"I'll call Jerome, we'll fly on 9th." He said dialing his friend who rented jets.
-------
The paper caused a small uproar in the Arsenal academy and Matt's school, but nothing major happened, in England of course.
In France, the board of FA was sent to a workaholic mode, the president was present at the opening match and had asked for Matt's details.
The Ireland camp was the same, thought they had found out about his mother. Matt's mother Eva Delevigne, she had Irish Blood, her mother was born in Ireland.
This made the Irish follow his development closely, now they knew better, the boy won't choose Ireland over England, he was born there after all, still they were waiting for England to hesitate, and steal him.
Matt oblivious to all of this continued spending free time sleeping while the others went out, he stayed in the hotel, chilling.
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6 May 2004
England beat Portugal, England 3–1 Portugal at Tours Stade de la Vallée du Cher.
Matt didn't came off the bench this time, England had the lead, So John rested him making him scowl, it was good Cara and Emma were not present at the game.
Levi scored two goals, while Fraizer tapped in one.
Match score
Levi - 2
Fraizer - 1 Goal 1 Assist
Davis - 2 Assists
England's team was looking good, even without Matt which made John happy, he was tired of managing him, atleast he was getting results off of a good team.
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9 May 2004
England 1–0 Austria, Blois, Les Allées.
Levi - 1 Goal, Penalty.
Matt was sat on the bench again, he looked tired, he sat there, his boots untied, looking at the match with a distant gaze.
Adam and John notice, but couldn't do anything, team morale was high, they had qualified for the semifinals beating every team.
"Let's go!" Cheered Levi in the dressing room, Richard smiled and patted his back.
Matt entered the dressing room quietly, and picked up his bags, he couldn't wait to get out of the stadium.
"Hey! Matt, where are you going, we have an hour for the bus" said Mark.
"I'm not doing anything here, I'll wait on the bus" said Matt moving past him.
Davis who was standing near scoffed, "Couldn't take a minute, thinks he's the main character or something"
"Davis, he's part of the team" said Mark slowly.
"Doesn't act like one" said David moving back into the dressing room.
Mark sighed, 'I have to talk with coach, this can't go on' thought Mark.
Mark walked out of the corridor and saw John talking to one of the physiotherapist, "Boss can I have a minute" he said walking to John.
John looked at Mark with a smile and nodded, Mark stood at the side, after few seconds John walked near him.
"Not celebrating captain" said John patting his shoulder.
"Just came from there, the boys fired, there unstoppable, Levi's acting up again" said Mark with a smile, which made John laugh.
"I wanted to talk about Matt" said Mark, which made John stop his laugh.
"What about him?" Said John, his voice came sharp making Mark a little confused.
"He's withdrawn from the team, he rarely steps out of his room, and doesn't really talk with anyone" said Mark.
John sighed, "It's alright Mark, he's a kid, he might not feel involved, everyone's older than him, you don't worry. Focus on the team, on the game, leave the rest to the management" he said slightly chiding him, which made Mark back off immediately.
"Got it Boss" said Mark.
"Hmm now go Stop Levi before he starts dancing again" said John with a smile.
Mark nodded and went back without thinking much, they were winning the tournament anyways.
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12 May 2004, Semifinals of UEFA U-17 Euros.
Tours, Stade de la Vallée du Cher.
The weather, mild and pleasant, a real spring feel before summer fully kicks in. Perfect for a football match.
England vs Spain
England coming unbeaten, Spain lost one to France, a game that has doubled the audience. Around five thousand people gathered in the stands, wearing mixture of red, white and maroon.
(Commentary box)
"What a tournament it has been Louise, England's unbeaten run, and Spain showing up in critical games, a true thriller ahead" said Lauren
"You're right, England's got that momentum in the tournament, specially Levi porter, young striker is the top scorer, scoring 4 goals and 1 Assist in group stages." Said Louise.
"Top performence from England, they're now favourites to win but spain is not a soft side either. They've got Cesc Fàbregas, Gerard Piqué. Two players that had played beautiful football in last game" said Lauren.
"You're right, in this tournament we have seen potential of football in all Europe, England and Spain two giants in senior level football now compete for the championship in U-17." Said Louise.
"We've got the line ups, Spain remaining unchanged,
Coach, Juan Santisteban had changed nothing" said Lauren.
"Why change when it's working" said Louise with a laugh.
Spain
Formation: 4-4-2
GK: Antonio Adán
RB: César Azpilicueta
CB: Gerard Piqué
CB: José Ángel Crespo
LB: José Enrique
RM: Diego Capel
CM: Cesc Fàbregas
CM: Mario Suárez
LM: Borja Valero
FW: Manu del Moral
FW: Pedro León
Bench
Roberto Santamaría , Antonio Barragán , Javi García, Javier Paredes , Dani Aquino.
"Agreeing with you, England has also not made any changes to their playing 11, there's a change on the bench though" said Lauren.
"Yes, Matthew Delevigne, the star of the first game seems to be missing, he hasn't played any match since the game against Ukraine" said Louise.
"I still see that freekick in my dreams! It's a shame, we don't know the reason yet, we'll confirm and get back to it, right now, the game's about to kick off" said Lauren with a giddy laugh.
England
Formation: 4-4-2
GK: Ben Alnwick
RB: Billy Jones
CB: Richard Stearman
CB: David Wheater
LB: Ben Parker
CDM: Mark Noble (C)
RM: Gary Roberts
LM: Kyel Reid
CAM: Mark Davis
ST: Levi Porter
ST: Fraizer Campbell
Bench
Joe Hart (GK), Ryan Shawcross, Adam Johnson, Shane Paul, Dexter Blackstock
(Commentary box end)
As the game kicked off, Matt's family sitting on the stands stood up and walked out of the stadium.
Nobody spoke, Emma's parents wore awkward smile while the girl had a frown on her face.
"Why did they select him if they didn't wanted him in the team" fumed Cara, she was holding her grandmother's hand.
Grandfather said nothing,his jaw clenched, he smiled at Cara, "Let's go to a nice restaurant, atleast we're free from that boring game" he said ruffling her hair.
(Pov end)