39

a little while later rosia, velia and antónio left our room. i took a shower and joined joão in bed when i was done, i moved closer to him and he held my waist.

"eleanor, i'm really scared for tomorrow." joao said with an anxious tone in his voice.

"don't be, you'll do just fine." i smile.

"i know.. but." he started. "i don't know about this game, morocco aren't that bad."

i stayed quiet and thought about it. portugal were really really good but i haven't really seen how morocco play so i wasn't sure.

"joão whatever happens it's for a reason. and even if you win or you lose tomorrow i will still be incredibly proud of you and so will everybody else." i reassured him and intertwined our hands.

he still looked very uncertain but he gave a small smile and squeezed my hand softly.

"goodnight." i said.

"goodnight, my love." joão whispered as he kissed my forehead.

-

the next morning we both got ready and after eating breakfast we entered the coach.

joão took the window seat but i didn't mind because i knew he was thinking of a lot. he was leaning his head on his hand and staring outside the window, he looked incredibly nervous.

and when the coach stopped i gave him one last good luck hug before he went into the locker room with the rest of the team, i sat with rosia on the benches.

"we're definitely going to win this!" rosia said positively.

i tried to agree with her but i felt a weird feeling in my stomach, a feeling that in fact they would not. and i couldn't bare it

"yeah.." i muttered.

the stands soon started to fill up and before i knew it the game had started.

about ten minutes in ronaldo had gotten fouled and he received a free kick.

everyone was screaming and cheering as he stepped up, just about to kick the ball - i silently prayed in my head.

"and.. GOAL! cristiano ronaldo scores a goal for portugal!" the commentator screamed and the crowd erupted with cheers.

i spotted joão and gave him a thumbs up, he smiled at me and the game continued.

the game was quite still when the first half was done, each teams kept attempting to score but none of them did so it was still 1-0 luckily.

yassine bounou was really good at defending and when joão kicked the ball into the goal bono saved it swiftly.

and then the worst happened.

morocco scored a goal so the score was now 1-1. the game was almost over and it was not looking good or it was probably going to be a tie.

again and again people tried to score but there was no luck.

tension rose in the stadium and time was running out. the portugal team were exhausted from running but they still didn't lose hope - there was only two minutes of the game left.

hakimi receives the ball from his team mate and he runs over to the empty side of the pitch, diogo costa prepares himself for the kick but-

"GOAL! HAKIMI SCORES ANOTHER GOAL AND SAVES MOROCCO WITH ONLY TEN SECONDS REMAINING." the commentator exclaims.

my heart drops when i see joão kneeling on the floor with his hands burying his face. the loss of portugal was terrible but seeing joão upset pains me even more and i wished i could go down to the pitch and comfort him.

i look over to rosia and she looks like she's about to cry, without thinking i hug her and she hugs me back.

at this point joão is sobbing. his eyes are red and swollen and he stands up and leaves with the rest of the portugal team. ronaldo is crying as well and he hides his face as he walks out.

after the people in the stands started to leave me and rosia immediately made our way to wait outside the locker rooms, and when joão came out i immediately engulfed him in a hug.

he starts sobbing again onto my shoulder but i couldn't care less that i was getting wet. we don't say anything but i rub his back gently to comfort him.

"that was quite funny. you played really badly so i'm not surprised morocco won." someone said.

we both let go of eachother and joão immediately turns angry. kevin alvarez is standing there laughing with an evil smirk on his face.

joão lunges at him but thankfully antónio grabs him back and stops him.

"what's wrong? too scared to hurt me infront of your pretty girl?" kevin mocked. "too bad she left you for me."

"you're fucking delusional," joão spat. "she's not your girlfriend, she's mine."

"that's not what it says on the media, isn't that right eleanor?" he chuckled.

"no you're wrong. i would never date you so stop lying-" i seethed

just then a whole crowd of paparazzi came rushing to the scene, of course they would love the drama. i was already imaging what the new headlines would be

the security tried their best to strain the crowds so we had no choice but to leave kevin and walk away.

joão walked to the coach angrily but didn't bother waiting for me. i sighed and followed him quickly.

"joão-"

"-what?" he responded angrily.

i was a bit taken back by his anger but i totally understood - he had just lost the game and also had to deal with kevin taunting him, and if he wanted to take it out on me i wouldn't mind.

i decided to leave him alone so i turned away and rested my head on the window side and looked out of the window.

uh oh portugal is out of the wc 💔i made this game up btw so it wasn't from the real match