The joint picture of Fridolina Rolfö and Aitana Bonmat after the World Cup semi-final between Spain and Sweden immediately attracted attention.
You can find everything about the World Cup in football: Competition news, topics, Futistietäjä, program, results and statistics on ‘s World Cup website.
Spain dramatically grabbed the World Cup final spot by beating Sweden 2–1 in Tuesday’s semi-final match. All the hits came in the last ten minutes of the match. Sweden’s so-called golden generation’s dream of winning the title race crumbled again.
After the match, the Swedish stars were in tears and out of sorts.
– I’m so tired of these damn tears after the value games, uploaded the captain Kosovare Asllani.
– Seen from the Swedes’ eyes, the atmosphere after the final whistle was pitch black. Perhaps they felt that this was the last chance they had talked about and dreamed about for so many years, Expressen editor Anna Friberg wrote.
Soon, a photo spread to the public, which also shows a happy Swede. It did not go unmentioned by the Swedish press or other sports websites.
Pictured is Sweden’s star striker Fridolina Rolfö and Spain midfielder Fence Bonmati are laughing. Rolfö has lifted Bonmat into his arms. They have changed jerseys.
Rolfö and Bonmati both play for FC Barcelona and are good friends. They have kept in close contact during the World Cup and congratulated each other on great performances.
– He is insane. He’s one of my closest friends, had a great season at Barcelona and has done great in the World Cup. Honestly, I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves, Rolfö said before the semi-final match.
A photo of Rolfö and Bonmat was shared after the match on e.g. ESPN, Bleacher Report and Fifa’s social media.
The Swedish newspaper Expressen showed the picture to Bonmat in the media room after the match.
– It’s a great picture. I feel sorry for Fridolina. He is a very good friend, a good person and a good player who helps me, Bonmati told.
The Spanish player denied that Rolfö was in any way happy. Bonmati also emphasized that it was the photographer who specifically asked them to take a picture together and smile.
– It’s not Fridolina’s fault. She cried a lot and I joined her. I said he’ll get over this. It was hard for me, he is a very good friend.
Bonmati was clearly worried about how the collective image of the disappointed Swedes might look.
– Don’t kill him for this. He is very professional. The picture just said that we are friends. He wanted to get to the finals, as did I, and we are strong-willed people. We talked a bit and took a picture. There’s nothing more to it than that.
Rolfö, 29, has played for the Swedish national team since 2015 in 82 matches and scored 27 goals.
At the club level, he moved from Linköping abroad to Bayern Munich in 2017. Rolfö moved to another German club Wolfsburg in 2019 and from there to Barcelona in 2021.
Defeat in the World Cup semi-final Rolfö described infinitely heavy.
– The dream was torn to pieces. A huge disappointment.
Also Aftonbladet brought up, how the picture of Rolfö and Bonmat started to spread quickly on social media. After taking the picture, Rolfö was in tears again, but also praised the Spanish players for their support.
England and Australia will meet in the second semi-final on Wednesday 16 August. at 1 p.m. The bronze match will be played on Saturday 19.8. at 11 o’clock and the final on Sunday 20.8. 13 o’clock.
You can find everything about the World Cup in football: Competition news, topics, Futistietäjä, program, results and statistics on ‘s World Cup website.