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During the World Cup, Sweden had to play against Italy in the group stage. It was the second game for both national teams.
Sweden won 5-0 against Italy.
Nothing is over for Italy yet. Sweden is definitely qualified for the round of 16, regardless of the outcome of the third and final group game against Argentina.
The next games are in 6 days. Italy will stay in the city they are right now for the game against South Africa. Sweden on the other side has their next game in Hamilton. It would be a 6h 32 min drive. They have to travel from north to south. That's why the national team will fly over there because that’s way faster than driving a bus. The Swedish national team will fly to Hamilton tomorrow around midday.
The Italian defender, Aurora Galli, was at the game but to support the national team from her girlfriend and not her own. Simply because she thinks that her own national team doesn’t deserve her support in this tournament, not after how they have treated her. She was not included in the World Cup squad without warning or any explanation.
Besides she loves Nathalie more than anything, so of course she will support her during this big tournament.
If Yaya were in the World Cup squad, she would be there in this game one way or another. She would also travel with her national team and would wear her Italy jersey during this game. But since that isn’t the case, she is only here for one game, and she is wearing the Swedish jersey with proud.
Galli only traveled to New Zealand for this one game because she couldn’t miss a game like that. That means she will fly back home tomorrow.
She will spend the night with Nathalie in her hotel room. And Lisa will also spend the night in the Swedes’ hotel, but of course with her own girlfriend and not in Björn’s room like Aurora. Everything was already clarified in advance with the coach and the staff to see if it would be okay.
Sembrant and Boattin swap their jerseys with each other at the end of the game.
Linda Sembrant and Lisa Boattin have a double date with Nathalie Björn and Aurora Galli right after the game. The two couples had already had a few double dates with each other when they were visiting each other in their cities where they are currently living and playing.
Club-wise they haven’t played against each other yet because one pair plays in Italy and the other plays in England. Björn and Galli play together in England for FC Everton. Sembrant and Boattin on the other hand play together in Italy for Juventus Turin. They could only meet in the Champions League, but Everton must first qualify for that. That becomes difficult when you have teams like Chelsea and Arsenal in front of you.
Well, they could play against each other in a friendly game. Who knows, maybe that will happen in the coming season.
The game was in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. And because the city is right at the beach, they go to a beach cafe and then they take a walk on the beach.
The two couples meet at the beach cafe at 10 PM. Linda and Lisa are there first and are waiting for the other two. The Juventus couple sits next to each other at a free table.
A waitress comes to them. “We are still waiting for two of our friends”, explains the Swedish player after the waitress asked them what they wanted to order. The waitress nods and leaves them alone and waits until their friends arrive before she returns to their table.
Boattin lays her head on Linda’s shoulder and closes her eyes for a moment to just enjoy the closeness of the woman who she loves more than anything.
The Swede smiles and gives her girlfriend a kiss on the forehead before she rests her head against Lisa’s.
The Juventus couple don’t have to wait that long. “Here they come”, says the Swedish defender as soon as she sees their friends coming.
The other defender opens her eyes and lifts her head up.
Aurora and Nathalie hold hands with each other as they walk towards them. When they reach their table Lisa and Linda stand up from their chairs and greet their friends.
After they hugged each other Nathalie and Aurora took a seat at the table. Björn sits across from Sembrant and Galli sits across from Boattin.
The waitress from before returns to their table and the four women order what they want to drink. The woman leaves the others alone and goes inside to pass on the orders.
Galli still wears a Swedish jersey with the number 14, her girlfriend’s number of course. She wears a black hoodie under the jersey. Because walking around in just a jersey is a bit too cold for her.
“I should actually feel betrayed by you for not wearing an Italy jersey”, says Lisa to her best friend while she looks at the yellow jersey she is wearing.
“You are just mad because I don’t wear your jersey.”
“Maybe a little”, admits the Juventus player and pouts. She can’t remember the last time Aurora wore her jersey.
“But seriously, if you were the one who wasn’t in the squad, you would wear your girlfriend’s jersey instead of mine”, says the midfield player and raises an eyebrow at her best friend. It’s not a question but it’s a statement because she knows her best friend very well.
Boattin looks to her girlfriend first before she looks back to the other Italian.
“Okay, I admit it I would do the same”, confesses she and gets a kiss from her girlfriend.
Of course, Lisa would have done the same as Aurora. She would have put on her girlfriend’s Swedish jersey and supported her and her national team during the tournament instead of her own national team. That's not a question at all.
Lisa was shocked to hear that her best friend was not in the World Cup squad. She couldn’t understand why. Aurora is a very good midfield player after all.
The Juventus defender wanted to give them a piece of mind, but her best friend told her not to do that. Galli didn’t want Lisa to risk her position in the squad. If she can’t go to the World Cup, then at least her best friend should.
“Of course, I am right”, says Yaya with a smug smile. Lisa rolls with her eyes and smiles. Yes, her best friend knows her best after her girlfriend of course.
“I love to see you in my jersey”, says Björn with a smile and leans over to give her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. Her heart skips a beat every time she sees Yaya in her jersey.
Suddenly the waitress comes back with their drinks. They take their drinks and toast together. The two couples talk about everything and simply enjoy the double date together.
“We could have a friendly game in Turin or Everton”, suggests Nathalie and puts her left hand on Galli’s thigh. Yaya smiles and puts her right hand on top of Nathalie’s.
The Swedish defender would find it interesting if they played against the other couple. And besides, they could go on yet another double date after the game.
“We could talk to our coaches and teams to see if they want it and if it would be possible”, says Linda and the other women nod in agreement.
After they finish their drinks and pay, they go down to the beach.
Since the beach is not far away from the cafe, it doesn’t take long for the two couples to get there. They take off their shoes and walk barefoot on the sand.
Linda takes Lisa’s free hand with her own and laces their fingers together. Boattin first looks at their hands and then at her girlfriend with a smile. The taller woman smiles back and leans down to kiss her girlfriend.
Björn wraps her free arm around Galli and gives her a kiss on the temple.
Around midnight the two couples go back to the hotel. When they enter the hotel, they meet some of their teammates who are still awake and greet them.
The four women walk over to the elevator which just arrived. They enter it and Björn hits the button for the floor they have to go.
Aurora wraps her arms around her girlfriend’s waist and rests her head against Nathalie’s collarbone. She closes her eyes when she feels how the other woman puts her arms around her. She's more tired than she thought.
Linda lays an arm around her girlfriend and holds her close to her.
When they arrive on their floor, they leave the elevator and walk to their hotel rooms. Coincidentally, Nathalie and Linda have a hotel room right next to each other.
They hug and say goodnight to each other before disappearing into their respective rooms.
Nathalie gives her girlfriend a shirt that she can wear to sleep. Yaya takes the shirt with a “Thank you”.
The Everton couple changes quickly and goes into bed.
Yaya gives her girlfriend a kiss on the lips before she puts her head on Nathalie’s chest.
“Good night, my love. I love you”, says the Swedish defender and puts an arm around her girlfriend.
“Night. I love you too”, mumbles Galli and snuggles closer.
They both close their eyes and disappear into dreamland together.
Since Lisa has her things in her own hotel room, Linda gives her a shirt of hers to sleep on, which isn’t the first time Lisa has worn a shirt from her girlfriend.
The Italian player yawns as she accepts the shirt from her girlfriend. Wow, suddenly she feels very tired.
Both of them change quickly and climb into the bed. Boattin lays her head on Linda’s chest and listens to her familiar heartbeat. Sembrant wraps an arm around her girlfriend.
“Night. I love you”, mumbles the Italian player against the fabric of Linda’s shirt and closes her eyes.
“Good night, babe. I love you too”, whispers the Swede and gives her girlfriend a kiss on the head before she buries her nose into her hair and closes her eyes as well.
They will have all breakfast together the next morning before Aurora flies back home and the Swedish national team flies to Hamilton for their next game.