#Under-17 World Football Cup

[fangod9624]

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEE'S BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

World Cup U-17 group stages be like (my likes edition)

I'm so fucking late to that auuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhh

[woso-dreamzzz]

Award II

Alexia Putellas x Hardersson!Reader

Aitana Bonmatí x Hardersson!Reader

Natalia Guijarro (OC) x Hardersson!Reader

Part of The Big Adventures Universe

Summary: You are finally rewarded for being the best

You don't play football for the fame.

You've never played football for fame or money or awards.

You play football because you love it.

It's been apart of your life for as long as you can remember. Your parents still have your first Wolfsburg kit, back when you were a baby and couldn't do anything but cry.

The fame, the money, the trophies all just came along with the sport you love.

The responsibility of carrying your country and your club doesn't weigh on you much, not when you have such passion for the game and your teams.

The first time you felt such responsibility was on your youth team, captaining them to a successful Under-17 Euros. Then, the responsibility was back at Barcelona. You were made the third captain after half a season back from your loan to Lyon.

When you left, the responsibility stayed, being made the sole captain for your country. You've spent a year at Wolfsburg now, the club of your childhood, and the band for your club wraps around your arm in preparation for next season.

Denmark Youth Captain.

Barcelona Third Captain.

Sweden Senior Captain.

Wolfsburg First Captain.

You didn't play football to become a leader but somehow you've become one, moving from yelling orders from your defence to yelling orders at the whole team.

You are an expert keeper. You always have been.

People around you say you've made your mark on the game and you haven't even retired yet. People look at you for what a keeper should be, for how a leader should act.

(People whisper that all keepers coming up the ranks now try to mimic your style, your natural instinct and abilities).

It's only inevitable that you have the trophy cabinet to back up your skill.

Two World Cups sit in your cabinet. Two Golden Gloves as well.

Multiple Keeper of the Year trophies.

An Olympic medal.

A Euros medal.

And then awards for at club level too.

Liga F, Copa de la Reina and Supercopa sit in the apartment you used to share with Natalia with a Première Ligue and Coupe de France medal too.

Your Champion's League medals sit with Natalia's on the wall.

Everything you won at Linköping and Arsenal are at home in Sweden whilst your most recent Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal medals are at your apartment in Germany.

You are the greatest goalkeeper playing in the women's leagues at the moment and, while you cannot see it, everyone else knows it.

You've come to the ceremony to eat some of the bar food and maybe see some of your old Lyon teammates.

Talia has come to the ceremony to see you make history.

Alexia and Aitana are the ones presenting the award and just from the way they're smiling, Talia knows the result.

You've been ranked highly ever since your first nomination. That time, you'd ranked eleventh. Every time after that, you've finished in the top ten.

Your name is called and the world stops.

You suck in a breath, frozen in your seat like you're in the Champion's League final with only a one goal lead and the other team advancing on your goal with lethal efficiency.

You don't know what to do. You don't know what to say.

Your wife allows your tuck your head into her neck, not flinching as your tears drip down onto her suit blazer.

"It's okay, baby," Talia says to you," You deserve this so much."

She helps you to your feet, hiding your face as you wipe your tears where cameras can't see.

You force yourself to walk up the stairs to the stage without stumbling. You suck in a breath.

There it is.

The most prestigious award in football.

It was a few years ago now that Talia won hers. She'd had a standout season during her first as Barcelona's captain. She was lethal on goal for club and country.

There was never any doubt it would be here.

That's the way it always is.

Everyone always expects a striker or a midfielder. Sometimes, it's a defender. It's never been a keeper though, at least for the women's.

Second goalkeeper in history.

First female goalkeeper in history.

Aitana is the one nearest to you.

You're taller than her by a lot, towering over her but she still hugs you like you were little, like you were still the little girl she met when hunting down Pernille's shirt.

One of her hands comes up to cup your cheek.

"You've grown up," She says and you force yourself not to cry," You're so big now."

Alexia is next. You last saw her a few weeks ago when you came back to Spain for the weekend and attended one of Talia's games. Alexia made you come down from the stands and asked about Wolfsburg and how your season was going.

She was all business then and you'd been as vague as possible, in case she remembered something that could be used against you during the next rounds of the Champion's League.

But now, there's no hint of professionalism in her eyes as she pulls you into a hug.

"I told you," She whispers," I told you that you'd get this one day. Remember this feeling, okay? There's nothing better in the world. There's no one better in the world."

She pulls away and hands you the award.

You turn to the cameras, to the audience all on their feet clapping you.

You lift up your Ballon D'or for all to see.

[girlgenius1111]

You Can Let It Go

not really sure what this is yet, apart from angsty reader and platonic barca femeni :)

warnings: anxiety, panic attack, reader punching wall [in a depressed way, not a straight male way]. general angst + fluff. more comfort probably in the next part

Your alarm rang throughout your dim bedroom, waking you from a deep slumber. With a groan, you rolled over, turning it off. You were exhausted, only having fallen asleep a few hours ago. Rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you forced yourself up out of bed, getting dressed for training. You ate a quick breakfast, which was 75% coffee and 25% food, before heading to your car. You hadn't snoozed your alarm today, so you were on time, thankfully. You didn't need another reason for your teammates to keep a close eye on you

The last month or so had been... challenging to say the least. You had had an incredible world cup, and were having an incredible start to the season; and as a result the pressure on you had mounted significantly. If anyone had asked, and they had, you would tell them that you were handling it fine, just a little stressed. Nothing you couldn't deal with. In reality, you felt like you were buckling under the weight of other people's expectations. No matter how well you played, it seemed like people always had something to say, making you feel like you couldn't ever perform well enough.

You knew if you could just get yourself out of your own head, you would be fine. The noise would fade away, until it was just you a football again, the way it had always been. You were an anxious person, and you'd dealt with bad months like this before. It had just never been quite this bad. Anxiety and stress swirled within you constantly, and it was a continuous battle to not let it affect how you were playing. You were hoping that even though this time it seemed worse, it would pass like it had before. Preferably before your teammates grew anymore concerned with you.

You didn't think there was a single person on the team who wasn't worried, but there were certainly some that seemed to take their job as older players very seriously, and you'd felt them watching you constantly in recent weeks. You were a younger player, only 20, and everyone was very protective of you. None more so than Alexia and Mapi. Alexia, you assumed, cared because she was the captain and it was her job. Mapi made a little less sense to you, but she had very much taken you under her wing when you'd arrived at Barcelona at only 17.

You could barely breath recently without one of them hovering behind you, worry creasing their eyebrows. You were determined, though, to handle this yourself. No one else was suffering the way you were, so you decided that the problem was you, not the pressure you felt. So, while they couldn't get you to tell them what was going on, they noticed a change in you, definitely. You weren't sure if it was because you were quieter when you were anxious, the bags under your eyes, or the increased intensity with which you'd been practicing. Either way, they'd been bugging you for a while to talk to them, and you resisted.

You pulled into the parking lot, another day of ignoring the older girls' searching looks ahead of you. You tried to muster up some more energy before walking in. It must not have worked very well, because the minute you walked into the noisy locker room, you felt several pairs of eyes on you. Looking up, you made eye contact with Alexia, sending her a half smile. Next to her sat Mapi, Ingrid, and Patri. It seemed that they'd recruited some new people to the "worry about y/n" club, holding their very first meeting right across from you.

You felt them study you as you pulled your training kit on, and wished you'd tried a little harder to hide the bags under your eyes. You talked easily with Claudia and Ona, their lockers on either side of you, about the upcoming game. You were set to play Eintracht Frankfurt the next day in a champions league group stage match. You began to walk with your friends toward the door of the locker room, realizing it was time to head to the pitch. You were interrupted, though, by a hand on your shoulder, and the soft call of your name. Turning, you came face to face with Alexia. Sighing you relented, and remained with her in the locker room as everyone else filtered out. Once the room was empty, Alexia spoke.

"How are you today, pequeña?" She asked, words less firm than her voice was. She'd clearly lost patience over the weeks with your resistance, and had completely abandoned her soft approach.

"I'm good." You replied, forcing yourself to meet her eyes. She raised an eyebrow at you, before tilting your chin up with a hand.

"Really? Because your face is telling me that you barely slept again last night."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I slept fine. Like always." You said, somewhat defiantly, shrugging her hand off of you.

"Watch your tone," Alexia warned, and you withered slightly. "I assume you still won't tell me whats going on with you?"

"There's nothing to tell, Alexia."

She let out a heavy sigh, dragging a hand over her face. "Other people are starting to notice, pequeña, the coaches and physios especially. You can't keep this up forever." You didn't respond, opting instead to stare behind her at the wall. She gave up. "Alright, go to practice, but if Jona asks me what's going on, I'm not covering for you and telling him you're fine to play. You'll have to do that yourself." She said sternly, and you rolled your eyes, darting out of the room before she could reprimand you for that too.

Your talk with Alexia had put you in a bad mood, and it only continued for the rest of practice. You were always irritable when you were anxious, even more so when you weren't sleeping. The other girls had gotten used to your extremely random moods, and knew to leave you be after a talk with Alexia. This time, however, your exhaustion seemed to take all the fight out of you, until you were practicing, no emotion at all expressed on your face.

You didn't protest when Mapi wrapped an arm around your shoulders after a drill, leaning imperceptibly into her. You didn't even really realize what you were doing, until you caught Alexia staring at you. You pulled away quickly, and kept your distance for the rest of practice. You made it through, thankfully without Jona calling you aside. In some miracle, he seemed to not be noticing your exhausted state, or was pretending not to, leaving you to pull yourself together. You smiled when you saw your name on the starting line up, vowing to get some sleep tonight, whatever it took.

-----

You thought you were going to have a good day when you woke up the next morning having slept completely through the night. You were anxious, as you had been on game days recently, but able to function.

You stood in the tunnel, ready to make your way out onto the field. You stood right behind Mapi, and she turned to look at you right before you had to go out. She was always the softer, more lenient one of her and Alexia, so the grin she sent you didn't surprise you.

"You look better today, pequeña. Still, if you need to come out, please tell someone," she instructed. You nodded, with no intention to do that.

It was a tough game, much tougher than the team had been expecting. You were tied 1-1 going into the 25th minute. You'd scored, and you felt like you actually may have been having a pretty good game. Until one of their defenders took our your legs, studs up, leaving a gash on your leg that had to be wrapped up. You were frustrated, even more so when no card was given. It was a completely late tackle, and the ref had seemed to be working against you guys the whole game.

You returned to the field, thigh taped heavily, giving your teammates a quick thumbs up. The ball had gone out for a corner, and Mapi stepped up to take it. You were in the box, prepared to jump for the header, knowing you were the target when Mapi made eye contact with you. Surrounded by teammates and opponents, you jumped, straight into another player. She was bigger than you, and she completely knocked you to the ground, falling on top of you. She crushed all the air from your lungs, and you were furious. There was no whistle, and this girl had just body checked you.

It should have been a penalty, which you were shouting at the ref, as you shoved the offending player off of you. She rolled off dramatically, and you rolled your eyes, accepting Patri's hand helping you up.

"Estas bien chica?" She asked, brushing grass off your legs.

"Si," You replied, eyes on the ref, who was walking towards you. She was reaching for her pocket, and for a moment, you thought she was going to card the other girl. Instead, she pulled out a red, holding it up above you.

"What??" You shouted, your protests echoed by your teammates. You were stunned. A straight red... for what should have been a yellow for your opponent. You were fuming, absolutely fuming. Alexia and Irene argued with the ref as you stood in complete disbelief. The ref was unrelenting, though, and she motioned once again for you to exit the field.

Mapi placed a hand on your back, walking you to the sidelines. "That's a bullshit call, it's not your fault. Keep your head up." She told you, the words not really processing in your head. Numbly, you walked off the field, through the tunnel and slammed the door to the locker room open. You felt staff members patting you on the back, but you ignored them and their words, nothing really processing in your brain.

You'd just gotten a red. Leaving your team with 10 players for the rest of the match, and it was barely even a quarter of a way through the game. And they were tied. And it was a champions league game. They were going to have to play even harder, and someone could get hurt, or we could lose, or both.

You're heartbeat was speeding up, and the world was going hazy around you as you paced around the empty locker room. You were losing control, quickly. In a fit of anger, and a need to regain control, you threw a punch at the cement wall.

"FUCK," You yelled, hearing a crunch. It hurt like a bitch, but it had succeeded in momentarily bringing you back into the present. You cradled your hand to your chest, throwing yourself down in your cubby, now fighting tears for multiple reasons. You sat motionless, staring at the ground in front of you, panic quickly returning. You jumped as the door opened, even though it opened rather softly.

"Hey, someone heard you yell. Y/n, what happened was not your fault, that was an insane call, you have to know that." Came the gentle voice of Ingrid. She was on the bench tonight, resting from a muscle injury, and had clearly been elected to come check on you. You nodded mechanically in response, because you DID know that, you just couldn't accept it. "Y/n... what happened to your hand?" She questioned, moving to crouch in front of you.

You looked down, taking in the sight of the already swelling, and slightly bleeding, limb. Ingrid's touch was feather light when she moved your hand, yet you still winced.

"I got angry. Kinda freaked out and hit the wall." Your words were kind of choked up, as you were still having a hard time breathing. You met her eyes, taking in the concerned look on her face. She didn't seem to know what to say, running a hand back through her ponytail, thinking hard. She focused back on your face, and moved to stand. You assumed she was going to go get someone else; a physio or maybe one of the other captains. You and Ingrid were friendly, she was Mapi's girlfriend so you spent a lot of time together, but you didn't expect her to stick around and help bring you out of your head.

Instead, she took a seat on the bench next to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you to lean against her. Your head was pressed right over her heart, and you could hear it rhythmically beating. Unconsciously, you began to try to match your stuttered breaths with hers.

"You're alright. I'm here with you, and you're fine. You can breath, just follow my breaths." Her voice was soothing, and you unconsciously obeyed, slowly calming down. You hadn't realized how bad it had gotten until you had come back to yourself, wiping frantically at the tear tracks on your cheeks with your good hand, horrified that Ingrid had seen you like this. You tried to move out of her grasp, but she didn't let you, keeping you pressed against her.

"Let's just wait another minute, alright? Drink some water and we'll go get your hand looked at." She told you, and again, you found yourself following her instructions without a second thought. You took the bottle of water she offered you, gulping it down, trying to avoid eye contact. Ingrid pulled her phone out of her pocket, looking at it for a second before standing up.

"It's almost half. Let's go to the physios. If Mapi and Alexia see you like this, they'll freak out. Is that okay, or do you need one of them?" She asked. You scoffed at the notion, trying very hard to put back up the barriers that had fallen against your will. Still, Ingrid waited for an answer, undeterred.

"No, I'm fine," You said, "I can go by myself." Ingrid gave you a weird look, helping you up.

"I'm coming with you." She told you, as if were obvious. Her tone left no room for argument, which frankly you were too exhausted for anyway. She led you out of the locker room and towards one of the medical rooms, as you desperately hoped there was nothing seriously wrong with your hand. Having to explain what happened to it seemed like it might contradict your efforts to convince everyone you were fine.

Once again, it seemed as though luck wasn't on your side. The physios took an xray, confirming a few breaks in your knuckles. They put you in a brace, telling you that if you didn't wear it all the time, they'd know and put a cast on you. Ingrid stayed with you the whole time, silently standing next to you. The only time she spoke was to update you on the score, which was steadily growing in your favor. Thank god. You felt weirdly protected by her presence, not that you'd ever admit it. You were released, and Ingrid walked with you back to the locker room.

"Why don't you shower and then sit somewhere thats not the locker room to wait? You should have enough time before everyone gets off, and that way I can tell Alexia and Mapi what happened, and you won't have to see everyone all at once." Ingrid suggested, hand resting on your back as you walked.

You wanted to tell her that was unnecessary, you really did. It was exactly what you needed though, and while you weren't exactly sure how Ingrid knew how to help you, she clearly did.

"Okay. Thanks, Ingrid. I really appreciate your help." You mumbled the last part, talking mostly to the ground.

"We're all here for you, y/n. Whatever you need." She said, and you nodded. She was slightly surprised; as far as she could tell, it was the first time you responded to an offer of help with anything but direct refusal that something was wrong. You headed into the locker room to shower, and she headed back out to the tunnel to watch the end of the match.

-----

Alexia and Mapi made their way off the pitch directly after the game. Your absence in the locker room during the break did not go unnoticed by them, nor did Ingrid's from the bench for the entire second half. While the rest of the team loitered outside, greeting fans, the two players walked inside, finding Ingrid waiting for them.

"What happened?" Alexia asked immediately, sure beyond a doubt that something had. Ingrid recognized Alexia's captain voice, and got right to explaining. She told them what happened, as fast as she could without sparing any details.

"She's just finished showering, she's in on of the media rooms though, she didn't want to see everyone all at once and answer a million questions." Ingrid finished.

"So she broke her hand, hitting the wall. Was she trying to hurt herself?" Mapi asked, not sure at all where your head was at. Ingrid felt her heart melt a little at the way Mapi's eyebrows creased in concern. One of the Norwegian's favorite things about her girlfriend was how much she cared.

"I'm not really sure. I think she was more angry, but she was fully panicking by the time I got in there, so I'm I don't know." Ingrid said thoughtfully.

Alexia sighed, for what felt like the 15th time that day. "Alright, lets get ready fast and we can go talk to her before anyone else gets in. Ingrid, tell Jona what happened?" She asked. Ingrid nodded, and they went about their tasks.

-----

You were glad this was a home game, at Johan. You knew the building well, and you went to one of the lounges, knowing it would be empty. You curled up on one of the little couches, watching out the window at the parking lot as everyone streamed by.

You felt so incredibly stupid. First the red card, then breaking your hand, then having a panic attack in middle of the locker room. You didn't know what was wrong with you, you just had no grasp on your emotions. Angry tears fell down your face, and you didn't bother to wipe them off. You wondered how Alexia and Mapi would know where to find you, seeing as though you hadn't told Ingrid where you were going.

You underestimated them, though, and how well they knew you. This became evident when the door to the room creaked open, and a soft light spilled in from the hall. Alexia slipped in, followed closely by Mapi. Both of their hair was wet, and they, like you, were in the cozy Barca sweats.

No sooner had you turned slightly in their direction, than Alexia was almost tackling you in a hug, still minding your hand. You let out a huff of air, but relaxed into the contact. Alexia held you close to her as Mapi took a seat on your other side, pulling your injured hand into her grasp, inspecting it carefully.

"Did you tuck your thumb in?" She asked critically, and you snorted.

"Maria!" Alexia scolded, but you were laughing, so she really didn't care that much.

"No, I left it out. Untucked thumb still isn't a match for a cement wall though," You said, trying to joke. It fell flat, and Alexia tugged you closer, resting her chin on your head.

"Pequeña..." She began, but you cut her off.

"I know, I messed up," Alexia shook her head at your words, as that was not what she was going to say, but you continued. "I was just mad and I didn't handle it well. I just need to sleep, and I'll be back to normal." You tried to sound convincing. Both girls saw right through you. Surprisingly though, it was Mapi who spoke first, voice uncharacteristically firm.

"No. You aren't getting away with some flimsy excuse this time. Either you talk, now, or you go home with Alexia, and she doesn't let you out of her sight." You looked horrified at that prospect, and Mapi kept going. "Until we know whats going on inside your head, you've proven that you can't be alone. That's the deal. You get to pick."

Your anger was quickly returning. "I'm not a child. You can't make me go home with you," you argued, ironically sounding a lot like a child arguing with their parents.

Alexia responded this time, her voice firm, "You pick one of those options, or you're benched until further notice." You shifted away from her, looking at her with your jaw dropped.

"You wouldn't do that," you said, trying to call her bluff. A mistake, Alexia never bluffed.

"Try me." She told you, face stony, words unyielding. Suddenly, and most embarrassingly, you felt tears prick your eyes. Hastily, you covered your face with your hand, trying to pull it together. You hated that they felt like the had to watch you like this. You hated both options, but talking truly didn't feel possible right now. You felt both girls lean forward in concern, and you opened your mouth before they could ask.

"I don't want to be a bother," you said, voice incredibly small.

"You won't be. If you aren't ready to talk, that's fine. Neither of us are mad, and we aren't trying to rush you. We just want you to be safe and healthy, whatever it takes." Mapi's voice was comforting, and you nodded shakily. Still, you couldn't help but apologize.

"I'm really sorry." You said, and you weren't sure which thing you were apologizing for, maybe everything.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Nothing," Alexia said, staring fiercely into your eyes. "Are you ready to go? I brought your bag." Alexia told you, leaving no room for argument.

Your stomach twisted uncomfortably, wanting to do anything else, but you wouldn't risk being benched. You nodded, moving to get up. The minute you stood, though, Mapi was taking her turn and pulling you into a tight hug. You let yourself hug her back, just a little, before the feeling of being about to cry came back, and you hastily pulled back. Both girls were looking at you with faces full of concern, and you couldn't take it.

Turning to leave the room, you wondered how you were possibly supposed to hide how poorly you were coping, let alone avoid Alexia's promised conversation, whilst staying at her apartment with her. You weren't really sure you would be able to. And maybe a part of you was so exhausted, so anxious, so absolutely done with everything, that you weren't sure it was even worth hiding anymore.

-----

let me know if you want a part 2 / what you want to see in it!

[talkinfanfic]

Episode 307 - Interview with HeyJulien, Football RPF and Carraville writer

🎧 Episode available on any podcast app, Spotify, or stream here!

Like a bicycle kick goal at minute 95, Sara finally completes editing on a much overdue interview with fellow Carraville author @heyyjulien ! 

Sara and Julien talk about the world of football RPF (as in soccer, for all you Yankees); specifically the delightfully odd-couple rivals-to-lovers ship of English football pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher. Other talking points scattered across the pitch include: football as war, derby days and football rivalry; the joys of local non-league football, the Bundesliga and fußballkultur; to switch POV, or not to switch POV; the annoying beauty of David Beckham; and of course, we discuss the tragically under-utilized in fic friendship of Paul Scholes and Gary Neville (or, Scholesy as the Kermit to Gary Neville’s Miss Piggy). 

Join us, if you like!

Correction - at 03:27:40 we incorrectly refer to our wonderful fellow Carraville author as ‘player1604’-- their handle is @player1064, which is a reference to Gary Neville’s England legacy number. Gary was the 1,064th player to play for England’s National Team. More notes, references, and time caps below the cut.

Contact and Credits:

Intro Theme: Kyle Laurin "Oasis Supersonic Theme" (Twitter: @cobrakylemusic)

Tumblr: talkinfanfic.tumblr.com 

Instagram: @talkinfanfic

Email: talkinfanfic@gmail.com 

Time caps:

00:10:39 - Chelsea v Liverpool result in the Carabao Cup Final AND “Football and Butts”

00:13:17 minutes - Picking an English team as an outside fan, local rivalry in sport, and the mechanisms of tribalism

00:21:10 - Football pride as a substitute for national pride in Germany

00:22:57 - League structure in european football, the purity of the local club, financial doping, and German “fußballkultur”

00:32:57 - A late introduction to HeyJulien ! Julien’s earliest reading and writing memories.

00:36:36 - First encounter with fanfiction and Youtuber RPF

00:42:11 - Path into Sports RPF

00:45:28 - The specific allure of Hockey RPF

00:53:54 - Getting into Football RPF and Carraville

01:11:07 - Carraville fic, start of “Zombies” discussion, and Julien’s real-life plot inspiration

01:20:04 - Excerpt 1, from “Zombies” 

01:39:12 - Strategy and instinct of switching POV’s 

01:59:50 - “The Victorian Era” 

02:06:13 - Excerpt 2, from “The Victorian Era” (apologies from Sara for the botched English accents)

02:23:17 - Cat cameo by Daniel Pickles - and the theme of power in “The Victorian Era”, Gary and Victoria’s friendship, and writing moments that “show” instead of “tell”. 

02:32:27 - The fun of writing about “bad people”, and recurring themes popping up in our works; AND the specific joys of fanfiction enriching “real life”

02:40:36 - “Tasting Syrup On My Tongue”

02:50:45 - The joy of Stevie G and Scholsey in Carraville fics

03:00:46 - Sara’s childhood soccer experience

03:02:49- Rapid Fire Questions!!! 

03:17:21 - Michael Owen Quotes

03:31:00 - Coffee Shop Scenario

03:37:32 - Julien’s fic recs

03:43:11 - Final question- “What do you think it is about sport that lends itself to fiction and fanfiction?”

Episode References

FIC - ‘These zombies in the park, they're looking for my heart’ by HeyJulien 

FIC - 'The Victorian Era' by HeyJulien 

FIC - ‘Tasting Syrup On My Tongue’ by HeyJulien

https://www.fanfiktion.de/ - Julien’s first fanfic site!

CBS Champions League Today "Best Of" - Youtube video, example of CBS crew compilation, ft. Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards, Thierry Henry, and Kate Abdo

"Gary Neville & Jamie Carragher's BEST moments! 👀🍿"   - Youtube video that Julien sent Sara to kick off the Carraville spiral

Gary Neville’s interview with Jamie Carragher on The Overlap - Youtube

"Neville and Carra - the perfect TV double act make their Monday Night Football debut" - Daily Mail article from August 2013, describing Jamie’s MNF debut alongside Gary. 

And another 2013 article, this one from Stretty News on the Carraville punditry duo, described as “a dream pair”. 

‘Tasting Syrup’ reference - Footage of John Terry head injury  in the 2007 League Cup Final, Chelsea v Arsenal - Youtube

‘Tasting Syrup’ reference - Footage of Jamie Carragher head injury in a match against Arsenal in April 2011 - tumblr link

Fanart - Man United v Liverpool lineup as envisioned by the genius k-ky - tumblr link

Article - "Bastian Schweinsteiger dragged the modern Germany to ultimate glory with blood, sweat and tears" - on Schweinsteiger’s heroic and gritty performance in the 2014 World Cup Final (October 2019)  

Some more brilliant Michael Owen quotes (unverified but highly entertaining)

Julien rec - Sara's fic, [the gap between crack and thunder] WIP! 

Julien rec - Quell the Tide by Imnotreallyhereatall - the hockey RPF julien mentions loving (Ao3, locked)

Julien rec - Take a Chance on Me by @zevons, @jjjat3am (Ao3, locked)

Julien rec - keep your silver, give me that gold by @thesecretdetectivecollection (Ao3)

Julien rec - Gary Neville is Still a Red, Just a Different Shade by @fanficburner (Ao3) 

[footygirl114]

I would like you to do 17. “You are driving me insane and I’m this close to losing my shit because of you.” with Alexia if possible.

One thing you could never do was sit still, you always had to be moving or you would get antsy. That’s probably what made you such a good footballer, you were always moving and making space, which fit Barca’s playing style perfectly.

Playing there for you noticed for the Spainish team, but you were a newer player and you were unsure you would even get a chance to play with the superstars they had. You supported your teammates 100% but you were never included in the 15, which meant with them being off you got the call.

Alexia say you down and helped ease your mind and encouraged you to take the chance you were given. Which meant you rolled with it and made the World Cup squad. It sucked some of your teammates weren’t going to be playing but you had alexia to tell keep you grounded for this tournament.

Which lead to today, you were halfway into the long flight to Australia where you were in a seat beside Alexia, but the anxiousness hit and you could not stop fidgeting and bouncing.

Alexia was asleep beside you, or so you thought, but your mind was racing. It was dark on the plane so yoy didn’t want to get up and wake everyone else up so yoy stayed seated but bouncing your legs.

“Y/N” you heard growled beside you.

Turning you see alexia with one eye open watching you as you ask “yeah ale?”

“You are driving me insane and I am this close to losing my shit because of you” she growled out again her one eye on you.

You immediately stilled and whispered “I’m sorry Ale, I can’t help it”

She softens at this and moves so one hand is on your thigh and asks “anxious?”

You nod eyes downcast and you feel her hand squeeze your thigh softly.

You hear her move closer then feel her knuckle under your chin, you let her guide your face upwards and closer to hers. “Y/N you are going to crush it” she whispers close to you.

“You think?” You ask softly.

She nods and says “I know so” as she closes the gap and presses her lips softly to yours.

You immediately respond feeling your body relax, she pulls back and you watch her readjust and hold her arm out to you. Smiling you lay your head on her chest listening to her heartbeat which is the only thing that can calm you down enough to sleep.

[alexbkrieger13]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/feb/22/how-to-stop-spain-and-aitana-bonmati-moving-the-goalposts-nations-league

How to stop Spain and Aitana Bonmatí. Well, how to try at least

for my first column for Moving the Goalposts I was asked: how do you beat Spain? Well, it is easier said than done. When my Sweden team faced them in Gothenburg in September I had a moment which felt like an out-of-body experience: I could see clearly which kinds of balls they wanted to play and the patterns of their passes. They like to play diagonal passes from the No 6 up to the No 8s and, from there, switch the play. The problem, though, was reacting to it as they are just so quick.

I’ve seen them close up probably more than I’d have liked in the past year – three times, in fact, as we lost a World Cup semi-final to them and then suffered late defeats in both our Nations League group games against them.

Now it is time for the Nations League semi-finals. France face Germany and the Netherlands have the unenviable task of taking on Spain. When I think about what makes them so formidable, I’d start with two things: the amount of quality players and that winning culture, which begins with their youth national teams. They’ve won four of the last five Under-19 Euros and been to the final in seven of the last eight Under-17 Euros. In other words, just reaching a tournament is not enough – their attitude is “we’re going to be there until the end”. The same goes at club level with Barcelona.

In fairness, with Sweden we were close in both Nations League group games: we interrupted their rhythm and were close to getting a draw. We like to press high and force mistakes and, at home, I scored the opening goal and we managed to disrupt them quite well. However, we didn’t have energy to do it for the whole game and lost 3-2.

In Málaga we played a new 3-5-2 formation as we wanted to get a higher press on their centre-backs and also – with our three centre-backs – to cover the inner corridors that they are so good at exploiting. We won the ball high and led 3-1 at half-time. But after an hour a little player called Aitana Bonmatí came on and changed the game, and we ended up losing 5-3.

View image in fullscreenThis is an example with Alexia Putellas this time positioning herself in the same area, making it really difficult for us to decide who should mark her. Photograph: SvFF

Another player I’d like to mention is Salma Paralluelo, who has added a new dimension to Spain’s game. She is so quick that you can’t just have a high line against them as you might get caught out behind instead. Previously, Spain had forwards coming short so you could keep the team really compact but with Paralluelo it makes that really difficult.

Spain’s opponents in Seville on Friday, the Netherlands, have resilience and some good attacking players but the challenge will be to play the perfect game for 90 minutes. When you have the energy, you can press Spain and get the ball in good areas but they’re so good at tiring teams out, as they showed in the World Cup final against England. You retreat into a mid or low block and then you are just chasing and looking at what they are doing. And that means that when you do win the ball, it is hard to have ideas and keep hold of it – they are so quick at trying to regain it, while you are still tired.

If there is one weakness in Spain, it is the fact they do concede goals – nine in six Nations League group games. At Chelsea we always had the mantra that goals win you games but defence wins you championships and, as a defender, I like to believe that is true. That said, Spain scored 23 at the other end so maybe they have cracked the code – as long as you score an extreme amount of goals then it is OK not to be so solid. However, that could be where other teams have a chance.

As for the other semi-final between France and Germany, the French had a strong group stage, dropping just two points and conceding only one goal. They are a team with a core of experience as well as individual flair and they have Marie-Antoinette Katoto looking dangerous again after her long-term injury. However, as a Bayern Munich player I hope my German friends will go through and I do think they have grown as a team. Since moving to Bayern I have noticed that German football has a similarity with Swedish culture in that everyone is expected to work for the team. An example is Klara Bühl, my Bayern colleague, who is one of their key attacking players but still works really hard for the team. With that attitude, I fancy them to reach the final.

Credit to Spain campaigners

It is not just on the pitch that I admire Spain. As a member of FifPro’s global players’ council, I have followed their story off the pitch too and before the game in September, I managed to say, very briefly, how much I respected them for the way they have stood up and demanded changes from their FA – and got them. The week leading up to that match they had had late-night meetings, little sleep and plenty of stress yet still managed to come to Gothenburg and play a really good game. I am impressed with how, between their struggles, they have managed to stay focused on their football and win a World Cup.

Nations League format should follow men’s example

On a broader note about this first Women’s Nations League, it has been a welcome addition even if, timing-wise, it was tough from a player’s perspective to regroup and go again so soon after the World Cup. However, when I look at the fact Spain and France each play their semi-final at home, I do believe it would have been better to follow the men’s example and have a ‘final four’ event in just one place. It would have been a better spectacle and would make more sense from a commercial perspective – not to mention a sporting one as it is a huge advantage for Spain and France to each have a home semi-final.

[maaarine]

it's wild that Spain is world champion at senior level, and under-20, and under-17

I wonder if the women's current dominance is directly correlated to the 2008-2012 winning streak of the men's team (two euros and one world cup)

like Spain being on top of the world in men's football 10-15 years ago, did it lead to a huge rise in little girls' participation in the sport at the time (and a rise of investment)?

and have those girls turned into the women who are winning everything today?

[lgbtqiamuslimpedia]

LGBTQI+ rights in Qatar

LGBTQI+ people in Qatar experience legal and social challenges. They may face widespread persecution by homophobic state. Transgender Qataris and LGBTQI+ expats are an easy target of discrimination in Qatar.

Legality of Homosexuality

Male homosexuality have been illegal in Qatar since 1938, with punishments for both Muslims and non-Muslims potentially including up to three years in prison. There is no explicit prohibition of lesbianism in the legal code. Female homosexuality may be viewed as zina under Sharia law but is not typically punished under the current anti-homosexuality law in Qatar.

For Muslims duly convicted in the Sharia courts, a judicial sentence of capital punishment for sodomy or extramarital sex is a possibility. Furthermore, death penalty is only applicable to muslims because extramarital sex regardless of the gender of the participants is punishable by death & because same-sex couples cannot get married in Qatar. However, there is no evidence that the death penalty has been applied for consensual same-sex relations taking place between adults outside the spaces policed by authorities.

History

Queerness was widely tolerated and accepted in pre-colonial period. When Qatar was part of Ottoman Empire, homosexuality wasn't a criminal offense. Until 1916, queerness was tolerated in Qatari society.

Homosexuality was first criminalized in Qatar by British colonists through the Order in Council 1938. This was replaced by Article 171 in 1956, and then after independence, Article 171 was replaced by Article 201 of Qatar's 1971 Penal Code.  Since 2004, Article 296 (Law 11/2004) stipulates imprisonment between one and three years for sodomy between men. This is less severe than the 1971 law that stipulated up to five years' imprisonment for gay sex. The death penalty for sodomy is applicable only to muslims because sex outside the traditional marriage is punishable by death, and because same-sex couples cannot get married.

Same-sex marriage, union

Sex outside traditional heteronormative marriage is illegal and no legal recognition exists in Qatar for same sex partnerships.

Discrimination

It's not uncommon for Gulf states to restrict LGBTQI+ immigrants and travelers from entering the country.

In June 2011, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution for protection of human rights of sexual and gender minorities. But Qatar voted against this resolution (Source: IGLHRC 17 June 2011; Human Rights Brief 10 Nov. 2011). In 2016, an opinion piece published in the outlet Doha News by a gay Qatari man using the pseudonym Majid Al-Qatari described the experience of being gay in Qatar as "jarring" and highlighted the "irreparable damage to his mental health." This piece faced criticism for "allowing the discussion of 'homosexuality' in Qatar." Consequently, Doha News encountered threats from locals.

In 2018, nine entire articles focusing on gay and transgender rights, which were published from April to July, were censored in the Doha edition of The New York Times International Edition. These articles covered various topics such as LGBT rights in Africa, criticism of the US military's transgender ban, and a retrospective on a 1973 fire that claimed 32 lives at a New Orleans Gay Bar. The Government Communications Office for the State of Qatar released a statement promising to investigate the issue.

In December 2021, Nasser al-Khater, the CEO of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, said that "Nobody feels threatened here, nobody feels unsafe here," but he also noted that "public displays of affection are frowned upon, and that applies universally – across the board.Qatar is a conservative and modest country[...] Gay individuals coming to Qatar as fans of a football tournament can engage in activities like any other person. However, Qatar is conservative in terms of public displays of affection." Khalid Salman, an ambassador for the Qatar World Cup, referred to homosexuality as "damage in the mind" and suggested that gay individuals require treatment.

The tournament organiser also welcomed Josh Cavallo, the world's only current openly gay top-flight professional footballer, at the World Cup. Cavallo had said that to know that the World Cup was being held "... in a country that doesn't support gay people and puts us at risk of our own life, that does scare me and makes me re-evaluate – is my life more important than doing something really good in my career?" Qatar's FIFA World Cup banned the OneLove Armbands and threatened sporting sanctions against players who wore them, leading to widespread disappointment among LGBTQI+ fans and sports teams. Regarding the OneLove Armband controversy, Qatar's World Cup chief, Hassan Al-Thawadi, mentioned in an interview that OneLove was seen as an attempt to convey a divisive message in the Arab world.

Recognition of Gender Identity

In Qatar, changing one's gender is not allowed. Trans and intersex individuals in Qatar can face arrest under the charge of "impersonating the opposite gender." These individuals are often accused of "violating public morality" or infringing upon laws related to "community protection." Upon suspicion, the police have the authority to detain them for up to six months without trial or charge. During detention, authorities may try to enforce adherence to local gender norms, sometimes resorting to measures like involuntary detransition or conversion therapy. However, in the past, Qatar showed tolerance towards gender variant identities such as eunuch, khunsa, khanith, and boyah to some extent.

LGBTQ+ Activism

Naser Mohamed (also known as Nas Mohamed) is a Qatari LGBTQ+ rights activist who advocates for the rights of LGBTQI+ Qataris. Since 2011, Mohamed has resided in the United States. In May 2022, he made history by becoming the first Qatari to publicly come out as a gay man. His decision to come out in May was intentional, aiming to raise awareness of LGBT rights in Qatar ahead of the country hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November.

In the same year, Mohamed established the Alwan Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ people in the MENA. He envisions collaborating with renowned organizations like Amnesty International & Human Rights Watch to conduct interviews with LGBTQI+ individuals in the region.

Additionally, Mohamed founded Proud Maroons, a supporter's club for LGBT fans of the Qatar national football team. His efforts are instrumental in promoting inclusivity and advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights in the region.

Queer Khaleeji is a community initiative that has been actively involved in supporting LGBTQI+ individuals not only within the Gulf region but also abroad. It offers support services to Peninsular Arab LGBTQ+ individuals, serving as a bridge to connect them with organizations and hospitals, and providing assistance in navigating the challenges they may encounter.

[inappropriatewenning]

AU meme: footie AU of COURSE

of COURSE

So the first question is whether each clan is a team or whether there's one team with everyone in it. If I have to make a choice--Cloud Recesses is the Lan club ground but also where the national youth teams train. The altitude is a challenge for everyone but the Nie contingent. Lan Wangji and Lan Qiren are surely not smug about this. Lan Xichen isn't smug about this either but like actually not smug. Gusu Summer Camp period is the under-17s. I...can't quite extend this analogy fully through Sunshot, though, so uh, let's leave that one there.

Wangxian get left behind, locked overnight in the away changing room in the sketchiest most miserable stadium they've ever played in. There are cockroaches. There are rats. There may even be snakes. One of them is icing his ankles and the other is starting to feel the effects of an ill-advised stadium snack. Yes, Wangji bites him.

When they grow up, Jiang Cheng is a formidable goalkeeper. His glare throws off many a penalty attempt. He constantly barks orders at the defenders and has a pretty damn good record of clean sheets. He's kept the Jiang team in tournaments they had no right to survive. His father is known for an interview he gave twenty years ago in which he said defense doesn't win games, all that counts is the guy who gets the ball into the net.

no one has ever successfully performed an ACL transplant or even dreamed of such a thing but wen qing is really smart and jiang cheng is unknowingly carrying wei wuxian's exceptionally strong ligaments

Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen retired from professional football early, at the peak of their careers, to organize grassroots youth leagues in underserved areas. And you know what? Nothing bad happens to them ever. A-Qing becomes the star of the women's national team and wins the world cup.

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

The Princess of Wales’ Stats - Fourth Quarter

In the final three months of 2023, the Princess of Wales completed 33 engagements, averaging 11 engagements a month. Her overall work rate has definitely improved after the coronation, although her she only undertook 5 engagements in December due to a relatively early break for Christmas. She also appeared in 17 released photos, videos, or statements, and was spotted four times - twice in October, once in November, and once in December. While none of these months have been her “busiest”, November was her busiest November without a tour.

Of her now 29 patronages, she has visited or completed work for 6, totalling 18 engagements in total. In October, Catherine completed three engagements on behalf of the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales and one each on behalf of the Rugby Football League, the Rugby Football Union, and SportsAid. In November, seven of Catherine’s eight patronage related engagements were for the Royal Foundation, while she also completed one for the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards. In December, she completed one engagement for Evelina London Children's Hospital and three for the Royal Foundation.

Of her 33 engagements, 16 have been solo while another 9 were when she was accompanied by her husband, the Prince of Wales. Two engagements took place with foreign royals (Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden), while six took place with a range British royals present.

All of her engagements - bar one (her Rugby World Cup appearance in France) - have taken place in the UK, in England (27), Wales (2) and Scotland (3). More specifically, 14 of her engagements took place in London, while 8 took place in Windsor. She has also undertaken engagements in Cardiff, Birmingham, Hull, Nottingham, Berkshire, Moray, Inverness, and Norfolk.

Many of her engagements have linked to her Early Years Initiative, with eight engagements falling under that umbrella, while four engagements apiece were linked to diplomacy, culture and mental health. There were also 3 engagements linked to children and young people, 2 linked to sport and 3 linked to the military. Four of her engagements did not fit into the theme headings I have created.

Clotheswise, her most worn identified designer was Holland Cooper, followed by Emilia Wickstead and Alexander McQueen. Her carried ten different bags, each from a different bag designer. Her most-worn shoe designer is, again, Gianvito Rossi, although she has worn Emmy London and See by Chloe twice, and has two unidentified pairs. In terms of jewellery, she has continued wearing the late Queen's jewellery, with 5 pieces worn. She has also worn four unidentified pieces and four pieces which were once owned by Diana. When it comes to hats, Catherine was seen in three hats - one from Philip Treacy, one from Jane Taylor and one from Juliette Botterill - as well as the Strathmore Rose Tiara and Queen Mary's Lovers Knot Tiara.

[diedinacrash]

Here's Part 2 of Dominik's interview.

I: You always call the National team’s coach, boss. You are the only one who does that in the team, where did it come from?

D: I don’t know, I always call him differently, sometimes it's Mister, sometimes it’s boss. I mean, when I talk to him I call him MIster but when I talk about him I call him boss. Because after all he’s the boss, it is what he says, but I think he has a very good relationship with the players, and it’s very important.

I: What does Marco Rossi mean to you?

D: Well, he was the first who dared to play me in the National team, before that I played under two other coaches who didn’t trust me as much as he did, so it was a very important step for me, that…he dared to play me at the age of 17 or 18 and luckily I could stay a standard player in the team. Of course it’s thanks to me as well, but the fact that he always trusted me is his merit. And…I’d say that our relationship is pretty close, but I don’t want it to sound stupid from outside…but yeah we are close.

I: Yesterday, the recordings that were made and published by MLSZ (Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség ->Hungarian Football Association), we can see that the way you two celebrated was very special, and you can feel how strong the connection is between you two.

D: It is really strong, I think it became so strong when we qualified against Iceland three years ago, because he wasn’t on the bench then and he wrote me a long message before the game, and I told him not to worry, we can do it and I wrote him after the game, saying “you’re welcome”. He only laughed, but it turned out good.

I: The next stop is the 0-0 against Montenegro, a college posted not long ago that we had 0.16 xG through the game. That was a very painful game, but almost everyone says that it was a key moment for the whole qualification series that we could successfully take a point from there. Do you agree?

D: That was the most important game? I don’t see it that way, but it was really important because I told the others that time as well, that no problem, there are games like this, but we knew from the beginning that it will be a one on one game. At the previous World Cup qualification, we made the mistake of going into a one on one game against Albania and lost in the last minute, we did the same at home, and lost again. But we learnt from those games, and what was important is that we realized that if we don’t push that hard we won’t have such power, but we won’t concede that many goals either. And we did just that.

I: You said that you really want to play against Montenegro, is it only because it’s a home game, and you can celebrate with more than 65 000 people, or do you still have a desire to prove yourself?

D: Both, I think it’s an incredible experience for everyone to play at home, in front of 65 000 people and…already celebrating. But I don't want any kind of celebration to happen prior to the game, we celebrated yesterday, there’s no celebration today. Today is about concentration and so is tomorrow. We can’t live from the past, even if we did qualify , we want to qualify first and if we beat Montenegro, then we’ll celebrate again.

I: Comes the summer, you sign for Liverpool under a moment, at least from the outside perspective. Who was the first you told in the National team, that you are going to Liverpool?

D: I think Schäfer, when it became certain we had a phone call and he wasn’t pleased, because he’s a United fan. He said I chose the wrong club, I said you can go to United and then we can play against each other. But yeah, he was the first, I think.

I: Did the others' opinion change about you, because you signed to one of the biggest clubs in the world?

D: No. When I did the pep talk before our game against Serbia, I tried to put it in there that I’m still the same person, I didn’t change because I signed for Liverpool. I don’t want them to treat me like a star, because I’m a player like any of them and a person just like them. I really don’t like it when someone is lifted out from the rest, yes everyone has their own character and everyone is good at different things, but we can only achieve what we did as a team. Because it’s not an individual sport, alone I couldn’t have qualified for the Euros.

I: It’s amazing how much attention you get, it’s a very rare occasion when a Ferencváros Puskás League game (Hungarian League game) has less viewers than a Liverpool Chelsea game, and because of you it happened. How surprised were you that you could burst into the public consciousness this easily?

D: I’ll be honest, I was trying very hard for people not to think that…I actually like to read the comments.

I: Really?

D: Really. For me it’s not…it doesn’t anger me, rather motivates me. You can never do good, it will be bad for someone, and I learnt to deal with this, and I can live together with this. But I tell you it motivates me, it constantly gives me motivation, that I signed there, they said I won’t play, I’ll be on the bench, etc, etc, etc. I signed there, I became a starter, I fought myself into the team, I scored, I assisted, I play great, I’m a standard player. IT’s a good feeling, but there are still people out there who don’t like it, but it only motivates me more to continue, to become better, to achieve even more, to win more trophies, to be more successful, as in me, in the club and in the National team as well.

I: When did you learn to speak English like this?

D: When…When, you know I was at Salzbourg, I started to learn German there, and when I knew around 90 percent German, I started to go to an English teacher, because there were a lot of players I spoke English to. Then I stopped taking the classes, because I didn’t really like them, it was always early in the morning. Then I learnt it from the players around me, let it be Haaland or Dabbur, they were the two I actually had a closer relationship with, and always spoke English to them. I was open, I talked even if my English wasn’t particularly great, but then they were kind and corrected me.

I: You have an interview, it was made after one of your first games, where they first pronounced your name correctly. Dominik Szoboszlai, and you did mention it there, and I read the comments under that interview, and one said ‘captain material’ even for Liverpool. Do you see yourself as Liverpool’s captain?

D: Why not? Of course, I said it a lot of times already, if I’ll be at Liverpool for the next ten years, and I have a great career, I’ll sign it right now. (Means if someone offered him a good career there he’d take it without question) And if they give me the armband at one point, I won’t refuse it because I'm immediately gonna say that it’s okay, it’s alright. It comes with responsibilities, yeah but I like to be responsible.

I: Is there anything you surprised yourself with positively?

D: No.

I: Confident.

I: Just before returning to the National team. Your dad has been asked by a lot of people about a lot of topics, even you quoted him. What did your mum do for this career?

D: She was a ‘‘background character’’. But, nothing…she always made sure I had breakfast and dinner at home, had my medicine ready, if it was cold then she made sure that my clothes were warm, so I wouldn’t be cold. Things like this. But really, she wanted to stay in the background, and she is still there until today. But apart from football, everything else is thanks to her.

I:One last question about the Euro qualification. Last time Salzburg didn’t let you go to Sofia, this time you were there. When you heard the final whistle, we talked about it at the beginning, did you only think that we had qualified for the Euros, or did you think about what our goals are out there? Kerkez said, you want to be competitive there as well. Or do you think it’s still the celebration part, the draw is on the second of December and there's no point thinking about this until then?

D: There’s still the Montenegro game, but yeah we talked a bit about it already, honestly I started to think about it when Willi (Orbán) posted that picture. Because if we look at it, whatever group we are going to be in, we have a chance to get through the group stages. This is how I approach it, this is how everyone approaches it. IT’s not important who we’ll be in the same group with, but from there all games are one on one, you either go through or go home. So I just want to enjoy it, go as far as we can, we’re at Euros, maybe in the end we’ll be the biggest surprise.

[pernillemagda]

From the Danish podcast “kvindefodboldpodcasten” with Pernille Harder

I have translated some of the best parts of this podcast with Pernille, hope you enjoy it 😊

04:00 - She was in Stockholm for New Years' eve

04:20 - Talks about her injury and her recovery is going as it should and that she has had some minor injuries the past year

07:20 - Thankful for the support there is around women and injuries today, when she was younger, she often googled her injuries and tried to cure it herself

08:30 - Talks about the menstrual cycle, how it's tracked, what to eat and how to restitute the right way

09:50 - A few weeks ago there was someone to measure their feet's, in relation to getting the right boots. Right now, they are playing in men's boots.

11:00 - Talks about the timing of the tournament being really bad and that they don't have that much time off after it

17:10 - She thinks that they should play at Stamford Bridge more often and hope that she one day gets to play there herself, in her own word "I chose to be injured the times we played there😉"

17:50 - One of the biggest moments in her career was to walk into Parken and play in front of all those people, it was kind of a milestone for women's football in Denmark.

20:30 - "I would be a boy as girls couldn't be in the NT"

22:15 - She and Magda want to use their platforms and want to give back and be role models. Also, she wanted to have someone to look up to when she was younger as there wasn't anyone to look up to in the same way. She will do everything she can to be that person

25:40 - Talks about what her favorite position is, which is an offensive midfielder, and how she has been playing since she joined Chelsea. This season she has found her role better and it is to be a part of the build-up and be at the last third on the field.

26:30 - Talks about the fluent formations that they use from game to game, 433/4141/4231. And how they changed the tactical.

27:40 - Talks about an extension with Chelsea and she says "No, actually not. There’s not much more to say about that"

Talks about the NT

28:00 - Talks about the euros and what they can learn about it and do better for the world cup

28:40 - Many had their first tournament at the euros and the players learned to handle the enormous pressure, mentally, there are under a tournament as it is bigger than to other matches

29:30 - Talks about how the difference is between playing against Malta vs Germany

31:30 - Before a game, she wants calmness and now what to focus on in the match

32:00 - Talks about what type of Captain she is, she wants everyone to be a part of the squad, take care of everyone off the field and make sure everyone is comfortable and is in a mentally good place. In her first years as a Captain, she was just "the one who stepped onto the pitch first"

23:20 - Talks about how Pernille talked with Kühl during a match and helped her read the match and make the right moves. After that, she has improved a lot in that area (I think they talk about the game against Switzerland)

When new players come to the team, she wants to get to know them, as they probably are as nervous as she was when she was at her first NT camp. She wants to show them that she is a down-to-earth person and doesn't put herself on a pedestal and feels better than everyone else, she wants to be the one they always can go to if they need to talk

36:40 - She will not say when she thinks she will be back, but she gives everything she has every day

[fashionguestpost]

Jude Bellinghamn age: A Rising Star with Eyes on the Prize

At just 20 years old, Jude Bellingham has already carved his name into the history books of English football. His talent, maturity, and leadership qualities have propelled him to the top of the game, making him a coveted player by clubs worldwide. But beyond the dazzling footwork and thunderous strikes, there's a young man with a life unfolding off the pitch. Let's delve into the world of Jude Bellingham, exploring his meteoric rise, his international aspirations, and a hint of what might be brewing in his personal life.

A Prodigy Takes Flight: Birmingham Beginnings

Born in Stourbridge, England in 2003, Jude's footballing journey began at a tender age. Joining Birmingham City's youth academy at just eight years old, his exceptional talent quickly became evident. He rose through the ranks with remarkable speed, shattering records along the way. In 2019, at the age of 16 years and 38 days, he became Birmingham City's youngest ever first-team player, a testament to his precocious abilities.

Bellingham's impact wasn't limited to breaking records. His technical skills, composure on the pitch, and leadership qualities belied his age. He quickly became a fan favorite, captivating audiences with his dazzling displays. Scouts from across Europe flocked to witness the wonderkid in action, and it was only a matter of time before a bigger club came calling.

German Adventure: Borussia Dortmund and Bundesliga Breakthrough

In 2020, at the tender age of 17, Jude Bellingham made the move to German giants Borussia Dortmund. The transfer fee, a record for a player of his age, reflected the immense potential clubs saw in him. Bellingham didn't disappoint. He seamlessly adapted to the rigors of the Bundesliga, quickly establishing himself as a key player for Dortmund. His ability to control the midfield, dictate play, and contribute with crucial goals made him a vital cog in the team's machinery.

Bellingham's success in Germany wasn't limited to club football. His impressive performances caught the eye of the English national team selectors. In November 2020, at the age of 17, he became the youngest player to debut for England since the legendary Wayne Rooney in 2003. This wasn't a mere ceremonial gesture. Bellingham quickly showed he belonged at the international level, delivering mature performances that belied his young age.

A Glimpse of Love?

While Jude Bellingham's professional life is an open book, his personal life remains largely under wraps. However, rumors have swirled about a potential love interest – her supposed girlfriend is Dutch model Laura Celia Valk. While neither has officially confirmed the relationship, social media hints and occasional sightings have fueled speculation.

Whether Jude is truly off the market remains to be seen. One thing is certain: with his focus firmly on his football career, any relationship would likely remain private. After all, the weight of expectation on his young shoulders is immense.

Leading the Charge: Captain's Material and World Cup Dreams

Jude Bellingham's leadership qualities extend far beyond his age. He commands respect from teammates and coaches alike. In 2023, at the age of 19, he was entrusted with the captain's armband for Borussia Dortmund in a pre-season friendly, highlighting the immense trust his manager has in him. This leadership potential, coupled with his on-field brilliance, suggests that the captain's armband might become a permanent fixture in his future, both at club and international level.

Speaking of international aspirations, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was a defining moment for Bellingham. He played a pivotal role in England's run to the quarter-finals, showcasing his talent on the biggest stage in world football. With the 2024 European Championships on the horizon and the 2026 World Cup looming large, Jude Bellingham is undoubtedly a key figure in England's quest for international glory.

The Future Beckons: A Legacy in the Making

At just 20 years old, Jude Bellingham has achieved more than most footballers do in their entire careers. His talent, work ethic, and dedication have propelled him to the top of the game. With his feet firmly planted on the ground and his eyes firmly set on the prize, the future for Jude Bellingham is as bright as the goals he scores. Whether he leads England to international glory, becomes a club legend at Borussia Dortmund, or takes his talents elsewhere, one thing is certain: the world of football is witnessing the rise of a true superstar.

[yourdailyqueer]

LGBT+ European female footballers for Australasia, Africa and Asia

The Women's World Cup is going on as of writing and so made a list of all the LGBTQ+ footballers posted here 2018 to present (2023).

Below are the professional female footballers from Australasia, Africa and Asia (retired and current), who have been posted on this blog since 2018. Some posts may be out of date/innacurate and so if you see any errors please get in touch. Have gone through more than 14 pages of this blog to provide this list. Hope you like it.

Total: 17

Africa (South Africa, Equatorial Guinea)

Amanda Mthandi - Lesbian

Eudy Simelane - Lesbian

Jade Boho - Lesbian (also for Spain under 19's)

Janine van Wyk - Lesbian

Portia Modise - Lesbian

Asia (Middle East, Japan, China)

Li Ying - Lesbian

Neda Rahmani (Shayan) - Lesbian

Shiho Shimoyamada - Lesbian

Australasia (Australia, New Zealand & Pacific Islands)

Emma Humphries - Lesbian

Emma Kete - Lesbian

Hannah Wilkinson - Lesbian

Katie Duncan - Lesbian

Kirsty Yallop - Lesbian

Sarah Walsh - Lesbian

Nicola Williams - Lesbian

Tameka Yallop - Lesbian

Tanya Oxtoby - Lesbian

[justforbooks]

Pelé, who has died aged 82 after suffering from cancer, is widely regarded as the greatest footballer the game has ever seen. He was the only player to have won the World Cup three times, and perhaps the most remarkable aspect of his long career was that he reached his apotheosis so early, and on the world’s biggest stage. He was 17 when he played for Brazil in the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden, scoring six goals in their last three games – the winner in the quarter-final, a hat-trick in the semi-final and two in the final – his confidence and stature growing palpably with every game.

Almost two decades later he came out of retirement and made the almost unthinkable decision of signing for New York Cosmos. For all its wealth, the US was then a pauper of the football world, and it was Pelé who helped introduce Americans to “soccer”. His first game was televised in 22 countries, and the pitch, more dirt than grass, had to be spray-painted green for the watching world.

Pelé’s fame began to grow almost from the moment he made his dramatic entrance in the World Cup as the youngest footballer to play in the tournament (and still the youngest to have scored a hat-trick, or to have appeared and scored in a final). Although he missed the first two games of the 1958 tournament through injury, senior members of the Brazil squad urged the manager to play both Pelé and the right-winger Garrincha in the final group match against the Soviet Union. Unleashing these two players against the Soviets kickstarted the Brazilian campaign. Both hit the post in the first intoxicating three minutes of the match and Brazil played with a virtuosity that heralded their arrival as the dominant, irresistible force in world football.

When Brazil reached the final and beat Sweden, the hosts, 5-2, Pelé stole the show, his two goals an illustration of the ability that set him apart from all other footballers. The first was a breathtaking piece of skill; he controlled the ball on his chest, chipped it back over his head and then ran around the flummoxed defender and volleyed it into the net. For the second, he soared above his marker before making a perfectly placed header.

Pelé was blessed with a blend of supreme athleticism, skill and tactical vision. He could run 100m in 11 seconds, shoot with either foot and outjump the tallest defenders. His sheer physicality and turn of speed were electrifying as he homed in on goal, outsprinting or simply charging through defences while managing to keep the ball under close control. But, unusually for such a prolific goalscorer, he could also be a team player. While he was still a teenager, wealthy Italian clubs attempted to lure him away from Brazil, offering a then unheard-of $1m to his club, Santos FC, for his signature. But in 1961, the Brazilian president Jânio Quadros declared Pelé a “non-exportable national treasure”, ensuring that he remained at the club for almost two decades.

He was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in the village of Três Corações in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, the son of Celeste and João Ramos. The boy was named after the inventor Thomas Edison, though his parents misspelt the name. The origin of Pelé, the nickname he picked up as a young boy, is something of a mystery, but its novelty and simplicity – easy to pronounce in any language (he complained it sounded like babytalk in Portuguese) – would add to his aura as his career advanced.

His father, known as Dondinho, was a gifted footballer and in the hope of a final shot at glory took the family to Bauru, a railway town in São Paulo state. A knee injury put an end to his sports career and the family slipped into poverty. From the age of seven, Pelé worked part-time as a shoeshine boy. Celeste was adamant her son would not follow in João’s footsteps, but by the time he was a teenager, scouts from the big clubs in Rio and São Paulo were knocking at the door.

Waldemar de Brito, a scout and former footballer who appeared in the 1934 World Cup, finally persuaded his mother to let him have a trial for Santos. De Brito took Pelé under his wing, and when they arrived in Santos, the port city for the booming industrial and coffee-producing state of São Paulo, he declared the 15-year-old was going to be “the greatest football player in the world”.

Santos was a small but ambitious provincial club when Pelé made his debut in 1956, and he was instrumental in transforming it into a national and then international force. In 1957, his first full season as a professional, in which he also won his first international cap, he was the top scorer in the São Paulo state championship. The following year the team scored 143 goals in 38 games to win the title, Pelé scoring 58 times – a record that still stands – and a remarkable 75 goals in all competitions in the calendar year, a world record that stood until 1972. By the 1960s the team was one of the most successful in the world, earning the nickname the Santásticos as they won eight more state championships, six Brazilian championships, two Copas Libertadores (South American championships) and two Intercontinental Cups.

Keen to cash in on Pelé’s box office appeal – and pay his astronomical salary – Santos embarked on a relentless schedule of exhibition matches in dozens of countries across four continents. Their star attraction was contractually obliged to play everywhere they went, so by the time Pelé appeared in his second World Cup, in Chile in 1962, he had played an exhausting 426 games and scored 488 goals in matches for club and country. He arrived with a groin injury, which flared up in Brazil’s second game and ruled him out of the rest of the tournament, though Brazil, led by an inspirational Garrincha, went on to win their second successive World Cup.

Worse followed four years later at the 1966 World Cup in England, when Bulgarian and Portuguese defenders repeatedly hacked Pelé down at the knees. He limped out of the tournament and, angered at the lack of protection from referees, vowed that he had played his last World Cup. Four years later, acutely aware of his place in history and with a point to prove, he had changed his mind. Chastened, the Brazil squad trained for the tournament for three months to deal with an increasingly physical European game and the altitude and intense heat of Mexico. Pelé was the only survivor of the victorious 1958 squad but he was joined by a new generation of gifted players, including Tostão, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Gerson and his Santos teammate Carlos Alberto.

The 1970 World Cup was the first to be watched live by a global television audience. It was also the first to be broadcast in colour, and in the brilliant Mexican sunshine the gold shirts and cobalt blue shorts of Brazil dazzled the watching world. They won the tournament for the third time – beating Italy 4-1 in the final – by playing football of such imagination and thrilling execution that it is regarded as one of the high-water marks in the history of sport. Their swaggering, distinctly Brazilian futebol arte proved that it was possible to win by playing with joyful exuberance, and Pelé was the most potent symbol of this sporting celebration. After 1970 he was probably the most famous man in world sport, with only Muhammad Ali as instantly recognisable and universally idolised.

He played five more games for Brazil and continued with Santos for another four years, but declined to come out of international retirement for the 1974 World Cup. Brazil’s manager, Mario Zagallo, had lost the nucleus of his glorious 1970 team and implored Pelé to change his mind, but the player realised that, as well as being past his peak, he was a far more lucrative asset off the field.

At this point in his life, money had become more pressing than football. As the result of bad judgment and dubious advice, he twice lost his fortune and was almost made bankrupt. One reason Santos were able to keep him for so long was their willingness to bail him out, on very favourable terms, after his business collapsed.

He played his last game for the club in October 1974 but, with financial clouds still hanging over him, he came out of retirement a few months later after receiving an offer he simply could not refuse. To the astonishment of football fans, particularly in Brazil, he went to play for New York Cosmos in the fledgling North American Soccer League (NASL). They would pay him $7m for three years as a player, plus another three as a “goodwill ambassador”.

As well as a salary that would make him the highest-paid sportsman in the world, he was also tempted by the offer of a new challenge laid down by the Cosmos manager, Clive Toye, perhaps one that suited a footballer past his peak: “I told him don’t go to Italy, don’t go to Spain, all you can do is win a championship. Come to the US and you can win a country.”

And so it proved: Pelé and the Cosmos were a perfect fit. The astonishing skill that had beguiled football fans in almost every country in the world was a revelation to a new American audience, and he loved the razzmatazz of the NASL – his easy charm was a gift to sports marketing men who were selling, in effect, a brand new product.

Over three seasons he scored 65 goals in 111 games for the Cosmos, and led them to the 1977 American championship. The team became a huge commercial presence and regularly sold out their 60,000-seater stadium – unthinkable before his arrival. His last game came in October 1977, an exhibition match in New York between his two clubs, Santos and Cosmos, broadcast to dozens of countries, in which he played one half for each side, and scored his last goal, his 1,283rd in 1,367 games. Those figures are remarkable in themselves, but the fact that more than 500 of those games were friendlies played all over the world is testament to his popularity and box office appeal.

When he retired for a second time, the winning smile and goodwill that had won over American sports fans became his stock in trade, and he went on to act as a highly paid roving ambassador for a number of organisations, from Fifa and the United Nations to Mastercard and Pepsi. He even headed a health campaign for erectile dysfunction awareness. Wherever he went, he was received like royalty.

Though never a member of a political party, he was appointed Brazil’s minister of sport in 1995, serving until 1998, the year the lei Pelé (Pele’s law) was passed by congress. Its noble aim was to clean up the country’s notoriously chaotic and corrupt football bodies and give greater freedom of movement to players, though the bill was watered down before and after its promulgation.

In 1999 he was named athlete of the century by the International Olympic Committee (even though he had never appeared at an Olympic Games) and a year later (jointly with Diego Maradona) Fifa player of the century. He was vice-president of Santos and made honorary president of the revamped New York Cosmos in 2010. His honorary titles in many different countries included an honorary knighthood in the UK (1997).

Pelé’s first two marriages ended in divorce. In 2016 he married his third wife, Marcia Cibele Aoki. She survives him, along with two daughters, Kelly Cristina and Jennifer, and a son, Édson, from his first marriage, to Rosemeri Cholbi; twins, Joshua and Celeste, from his second marriage, to Assíria Lemos; and a daughter, Flávia Kurtz, from an earlier relationship. He did not acknowledge his daughter Sandra, from a relationship with Anizia Machado, even after she won a paternity case. They never met and she died in 2006.

🔔 Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento), footballer, born 23 October 1940; died 29 December 2022

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[alexbkrieger13]

German media loves writing about P

https://www.sportschau.de/fussball/frauen-nationalmannschaft/gegner-daenemark-im-fokus-100.html

Pernille Harder and her special drive

There was a lot of recognition when Britta Carlson spoke about the first task in the newly created Nations League for the German footballers. The fact that the DFB women first face Denmark (Friday at 6 p.m./live on ARD and in the Sportschau live stream ) is a “nice challenge ,” said the interim head coach.By 

Frank Hellmann

" Denmark is a top opponent: a robust, defensively strong team, but also with qualities on the offensive." And "Pernille Harder certainly stands out as a top player. "

From her many years as an assistant at VfL Wolfsburg, Carlson of course knows best what Harder in particular embodies on a good day: world class. The star striker, who has been under contract with FC Bayern since this summer, claims the ball just as smoothly and elegantly. Hardly anyone in the penalty area has such instinct and such precise finishing.

The special connection to the venue Viborg

The fact that this international match is taking place in Viborg reminds the 30-year-old of her beginnings as a footballer; for her this is now a special home game: the Danish captain comes from the small Danish town of Ikast. At the age of ten, Pernille Harder came to the Midtjylland Youth Academy with her sister Louise - as the only two girls. "My sister was invited, and basically I wanted to do it because my sister did it. I've always looked up to her."

It soon became clear that she had even more talent. She played for Team Viborg for three years before moving to IK Skovbakken in 2010 at the age of 17. Two years later she went to the Swedish club Linköpings FC, where she was already scoring goals on the assembly line. At the end of 2016 she moved to VfL Wolfsburg because the current women's football director, Ralf Kellermann, had been following her career for a long time.

Pernille Harder: To England as Germany's Footballer of the Year

The commitment was worth it, because with Harder the factory club won the double four times in a row, only narrowly failing in the Champions League final twice before Harder moved to Chelsea as Germany's female footballer of the year three years ago. Until then, she had made the difference for the “she-wolves” often enough.

"Even when she's at less than 100 percent, you feel her presence. When you need that one moment to make the difference, she's the player to do it, no matter what condition she's in," said her former coach Stephan Lerch , who now trains TSG Hoffenheim.

The Dane was also held in high esteem in England, as Chelsea's charismatic team boss Emma Hayes revealed, who greatly regretted her departure to Munich: "She is one of the most eccentric characters I have ever coached. I will miss her eccentricity, no question, hers Attention to detail, their thirst for victories. "

At the World Cup, Denmark lost to Australia in the round of 16

This only became visible again at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Denmark had prevailed in the group with England, China and Haiti when they entered the atmospheric round of 16 against hosts Australia in the huge Australia Stadium in Sydney. In the end, after the deserved 2-0 defeat, no one seemed as disappointed as the Danish captain, who embarrassed the “Matildas” several times in the early stages.

But at some point it seemed as if Harder was fighting against elimination on his own. Their disappointment was palpable, but superstar Sam Kerr, with whom Harder had played at Chelsea, provided consolation. Her move to Munich together with her partner Magdalena Eriksson had already been confirmed since last year. An exclamation mark also for the women's Bundesliga, which is struggling for international attention.

Bayern's sports director Bianca Rech tried early on to get the two top players Harder and Eriksson free of charge. The fact that the coup worked reveals a lot about the international ambitions on the Bayern campus. “These are two experienced personalities who help us a lot – on and off the pitch ,” praises Rech.

Whoever takes the Danish striker out of the game has gained a lot

Harder certainly brings with it a higher level of recognition and perhaps also a greater glamor factor. She is a big personality in Denmark, whose greatest success in the national team was certainly reaching the 2017 European Championship final against the Netherlands. Although the atmospheric final in Enschede was lost 4-2 against the “Oranje Leuwinnen”, who were then coached by Sarina Wiegman, the Danes had at least won 2-1 against Germany in the quarter-finals on the way there. Harder scored her 50th international goal in the tournament. It goes without saying that she has long been Denmark's record goalscorer, with 71 goals after 145 international matches.

And yet she often has to fight for support in the national team, where the Swede Andrée Jeglertz took over from Lars Søndergaard after the World Cup. Whoever takes Harder out of the game has already gained a lot. The DFB women turned the tables again in the first group game at the European Championships in England, and Germany carried the momentum from the 4-0 win against the team with no chance around the attacker who was withdrawn throughout the tournament. Carlson now expects a game on equal terms. Or as the 45-year-old said: “A nice challenge.”