IR Day 10 - On Friday

It's Friday.

Tiff wakes up you and your team. You start with a quick warm up, then you get a light breakfast, then a final team huddle in the locker rooms before you put on your game uniforms.

Tiff recaps yesterday's planning meetings briefly. The main concern with Team Green is the small group of military girls that all know each other. Their soccer technique isn't perfect, but they have excellent synergy and are extremely tough.

There's a sense of relief because the waiting is over. Now you just have to play.

You put your uniforms on and head out onto the field, where there are tons of cameras, and the bleachers are full. These are all FUTA employees and their guests... live viewership is limited while FUTA is still in this early stage.

At least half an hour of group photos, individual photos, and pre-game interviews go by before you're finally walking out there onto the field.

It's another beautiful, sunny day... but hot.

The game starts out full throttle and rough. Green Team is aggressive and focused. There's precision in everything they do... they have their playbook memorized, and they stick to it religiously.

The military girls aren't afraid to get rough, and it's making for a good show. Even the small live audience is pretty loud.

You see Michelle watching. Tiff might be your coach now, but Michelle will always be your real coach. You don't want to lose in front of her.

You feel strong and confident. You are exactly where you want to be. Playing soccer, and... after a romantically lonely girlhood, you have someone in your life that you really like. It's time to do some work.

Green Team comes in hard from the very beginning, but so do you. They are startled by the power you bring to the field, and you score on them before they know what's going on. They hit back by being mean.

Your team can be mean too... you, Lara, Elena, and Sheva are all pretty tough. Rebecca too. You call a timeout and talk about your plans. You need an overall strategy if you're going to come out of this ahead...

Tiff wants to try a collapsing midfield to bait their offense into overextending, and Lara wants to play absolutely filthy. You're worried that they'll see through Tiff's idea, and you're worried that Lara's idea will backfire... but you don't have a better idea.

You have to pick one.

Play dirty? Or trick their offense?