#NILE SAYS IN 2026 THE PRESIDENT IS A BLACK WOMAN

[victimhood]

Fic Preview: The Beautiful Game, Chapter 1

ehehehehehehee IT’S HERE!!! Chapter one of the Old Guard soccer (henceforth called football) AU, based on the outline here (don’t read outline if you don’t want story spoilers)

I might live or die on this hill but for the chapter summary: We start with Nile POV, as she begins her new career as a football analyst on television. The fic will feature Kaysanova quite heavily, and the fic will build up to Book of Nile. The AU is set in the year 2026, where the FIFA Men’s World Cup Final is held in Los Angeles.

I’ll post this on AO3, where I am anonymonypony, once it’s cleaned up a little.

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME: CHAPTER ONE

FAREED: And this marks the end of Holland’s run for the World Cup. With no new goals scored at extra time, we enter the penalty shootout, and oh, what a tense shootout it is. It’s Captain Di Genova that scores into the top corner, after de Haas missed for the Dutch team, his effort ricocheting off the top bar. The Dutch are crestfallen, and here, we have Di Genova comforting Kaysani with a hug—their defensive partnership for their club is one of the best, isn’t it? And in a sight so commonplace in modern football, players form incredible bonds with their club teammates across national boundaries.

DIXON: Italy loves al-Kaysani don’t they? They like to call him their adopted son.

FREEMAN: Italy, after all, is the birthplace of catenaccio, and they appreciate a good defender like no one else. This is the country of Maldini, Cannavaro, Nesta...

DIXON: My god, Kaysani really reminds one of the young Nesta, doesn’t he? So elegant with his clearances, and such incredible vision, starting plays from the back with that passing ability...

FAREED: Yes—as a defender Kaysani departs the World Cup with no cards to his name—a testament to his tackling finesse.

DIXON: It’s obvious why Di Genova loves him so, isn’t it? He is the Cannavaro to Kaysani’s Nesta...sigh...

FREEMAN: Speaking of Cannavaro, it is twenty years to the tournament that saw Italy win their fourth World Cup. This time, we have the imposing Di Genova leading the azzuri into the finals—where they face, as in a repeat of 2006–a seasoned French team.

FAREED: Some would say aging, but there’s no denying the strength of Les Bleus—champions in 2018, semi finalists in 2022, and now in 2026–in the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles—they have a chance at their third World Cup. The French team has the slight advantage of having an extra day of rest, and they concluded their match against Brazil decisively, without extra time. 

DIXON: Yes, the obvious star of the French team is playmaker Sebastian LeLivre, who has flourished in the Premier League under manager James Copley for Liverpool. 

FAREED: In him, we have the young Zidane, don’t we?

FREEMAN: Yes—LeLivre, or as they call him in the Merseyside, Booker, is also born and bred in Marseilles. Zidane is his childhood idol—and perhaps taking a leaf out of his idol’s playbook LeLivre has stirred controversy once for saying he doesn’t feel French—he’s just Marseillais.

FAREED: Ooh, yes, when he’s losing, he’s le banditisme, but when he’s winning he’s French isn’t he?

DIXON: Yes, yes—we shall see. [chuckles] With Booker and Di Genova on the pitch—let’s hope they let football do the talking. 

“—aaaand cut!” The director yells.

Nile heaves a sigh of relief, glad that the cameras have cut away. This is her first professional gig since chronic rheumatoid arthritis forced her into early retirement from playing the game she so loves. She had been holding out for a third World Cup next year, playing through pain to lead her team, the Chicago Red Stars, to a league victory—but she has to give up on that dream now. Through some connections, Nile manages to work her way into a role as a budding studio analyst with NBC. A television gig analyzing the men’s game pays ludicrously well, enough to enrage Nile and yet—she has to do what it takes to survive, what with the expensive medical bills she will have to deal with for the rest of her life.

It is the year of our lord 2026, a Black woman is President of the United States, and football, as always, moves at a glacial pace, as if in a pre-global warming world.