#bergercarter

Photos from after the goal.

OH MY GOD!!! Thank you!!!!

Zoomed in version of the last pic:

for every time I became obsessed with a same-sex couple where both are professional athletes who have played against each other in major tournaments ...

[Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany) and Jess Carter (England) playing against each other with their respective national teams / Shane Hollander (Montreal) and Ilya Rozanov (Boston) playing against each other with their respective clubs]

... but are nonetheless happy for the other if they win ...

[Posing together after Ann won a bronze medal at the Olympics with Germany / After Jess won the Euros with England / Shane watching Ilya win the Cup / Ilya watching Shane win the Cup]

... where one is a person of color in a predominantly white sport, a native English speaker who plays in the highest league in their home country, experiences racism and micro-aggressions, is well-spoken and has the biggest beautiful brown eyes I’ve ever seen ...

[Canadian Shane plays hockey in Canada / English Jess played football in England and now in America]

... and the other is a white person for whom English is not their first language, who is from an European country, plays professionally in a foreign English-speaking country, falls for the aforementioned other player and goes for it without any indication that this other person might be queer, wears a crucifix and lost their father to Alzheimer’s, I would have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

AKB and Jess Carter getting red-carded. Different games, different clubs, different leagues, different years, different countries, different continents. Same willingness to argue with the ref on their partner's behalf.