The two coaches stared across the table at one another. In their faces was a look of disbelief. Neither could bring themselves to say anything.
Outside of their box the whistle had blown on the women's game against Detectatia. Heidi, the womens' coach, was there to instruct her team, of course, and had been joined by Johan in order that he might learn some techniques for the clearly inferior mens team. Their attendance bore added weight, though, for the opponents the women had faced up to. Arthuria and Detectatia had for years now developed a rivalry on the sporting field that belied the warmth with which their two cultures meshed. When all other avenues of competition are denied to two peoples, they often turn to the sporting field to prove their worthiness over one another. To attend a match between the two countries was not necessarily to watch perfection - to do so one ought to have seen the Radiatians play, and hoped with naïve wonder that they were not doped up like an escaped lion being hunted by zookeepers. No, to attend a Detectatia-Arthuria match was to experience to atmosphere of friendly competition which made the results of this game just slightly more important to Arthurians than some others. To attend was to be able to tell one's friends and family where one had been when the vital goal was scored.
And yet neither coach could tell anyone at this moment. They sat, slumped in their chairs, in shock.
Around them, the support staff had gone into action. Water was being handed out to the Arthurian women. The players passed by with heavy breath, grabbing the bottles with all the strength left in a team which had just played ninety minutes of fast-paced football. Medics were tapping some of the players on the shoulder, asking them to come for inspection or offering them thick outer jackets. Photographers and news crews were beginning to enter into the fray. All the players wanted to do was to get back to the changing rooms and cool down. They did so quickly; none of the staff was willing to deny them their rest after the match. Within four minutes, the team box had emptied, leaving only the two coaches sitting resignedly on the benches, the subjects of numerous photographs from those of the press corps who lingered.
Eventually, Johan managed to speak.
"What?"
"Ja." Heidi mumbled back.
"We were going to lose."
"Ja." She said again, this time with a chuckle of delight as well.
"And now we are through to the qualifiers."
"Ja." Heidi was staring out onto the pitch. "I feel like Ísland in the Euros."
The similarity extended to the crowd, which was applauding as the Arthurians knew best - in time and at gradually decreasing intervals. As a drum beat sounded, the visitors would raise their hands together over their heads in one unified clap, shouting out a deep 'huah' for good measure. The claps started off slowly and increased in pace until all that was heard was an indistinguishable cacophony of shouting and applauding.
"You know what happened to them, Heidi?"
"To Ísland? Ja. But we are expecting to lose, so to do so will be of no consequence. What we did not expect was to win a match. In that way, every single game which we win is special. When we lose and concede our place here to a superior team, we will return home knowing that we have done what is in the spirit of sports; we have played fairly and to the best of our abilities."
"They are not football players. How..." Johan was in shock. Perhaps he had harboured hopes for the women to play well. After all, they were a tightly-bound team and extremely fit. But he knew the mens' team; they were sometimes unruly and mostly relaxed about a tournament which did not concern their sport of choice. How they had won a single game he did not know. But they had, and he would now have to lead them into the qualifiers.
"Well if we are going to say that we played to the best of our abilities," he said, "we had best begin to work harder."
"Ja. No more drinking." Heidi said to no-one in particular, taking more of a mental note of her own plans for the Arthurian women.
"No!" Johan interjected, suddenly cured of his shock. "Drinking hard is a symptom of working hard, Heidi. It is the contract we make with these players; if they graft all day then we reward them with the freedom to drink without judgement. It is the only thing keeping half of the men here. That much I know."
"Fine." Said she. "But no drinking during the day. And you need to get your men to eat their vegetables. And we might consider training them not to receive red cards in every match."
"Alright. I can compromise on that." The two looked back out over the field. The stadium, still abuzz, was beginning to empty of spectators.
"Johan?"
"Ja, Heidi?"
"I feel worried."
He looked over at Heidi. She was staring out towards the ground unblinkingly. She certainly did look worried, and, understanding the nerves of a coach, Johan extended his arm out and rested it on her shoulder.
"Have no fear, Heidi. The pressure is immense, but it is tolerable. We'll get through..."
"No, you fool! I bet one hundred aurar with my friend that we couldn't get through to the semi-finals. If we do then I have to pay her."
Johan removed his hand from Heidi's shoulder.
