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WHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION FOR SIGNING UP TO COMMON GOAL? MAGDA: I was contacted through a mutual friend of ours, Ella Masar. She is actually a part of Common Goal and recommended us in the process, as she thought it would be something good for us. I’d heard a little bit about it before, but once I got into it and read what it was and heard what it stood for, it just felt like it was something that we’d been looking for. We’ve been wanting to give back in some way, but just haven’t found the right way and the right organisation to do it through. But I think this is a really good way of doing it. That 1% is clever. It feels like something we all could do. We’ve always wanted to give back in some way and this was the perfect solution. PERNILLE: Also, the possibility to choose ourselves what cause we want to give this 1% to was, I think, really important. The Play Proud project is a perfect fit for our values. THERE ARE OTHER BIG FIGURES IN THE WOMEN’S GAME WHO ARE INVOLVED IN COMMON GOAL, SUCH AS ALEX MORGAN OR MEGAN RAPINOE. IT’S INSPIRING TO SEE BIG NAME PLAYERS LIKE THEM, AND LIKE YOURSELVES, SIGNING UP. DO YOU HOPE TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO FOLLOW SUIT? MAGDA: I heard I would be the first one from Sweden to join, and I hope to inspire more people to do the same. For me it was kind of like, ‘Why haven’t I done this before?’ It’s something that everyone should do. I understand we all have different eco- nomic backgrounds, but 1% of your income isn’t much. It’s a really good way of giving back to the community and to the specific organisation that you want to give back to. Hopefully I will inspire more Swedish players and you (Pernille) will inspire more Danish globally to do the same. PERNILLE: I think a lot of people will go into it once they know more about it and when we can tell them more about it, because it’s really easy. I mean, you tend to think when you donate something that it might be com- plicated, but it was super easy. I think, for me, that’s the thing, I was just thinking that I didn’t know where to start. Then, as soon as we established contact, it be- came clear that it would be very easy. And the good thing was also that we were able to describe what we really value and what kind of causes we want to donate to, and then Common Goal helped us in find- ing the suitable organisations. It’s important for us to know that we’re supporting a good organisation and to feel like it’s something that really matches our interests. MAGDA: Yeah, it’s nice to know exactly where your money goes and that it supports a quality organisation. YOU HAVE SPOKEN ABOUT THE RE- ACTIONS TO AND IMPACT THAT THE PHOTO OF YOUR KISS HAD DURING THE WORLD CUP. HAS GAINING SUCH PROMINENCE AND REACH MADE YOU REFLECT ON FOOTBALL’S IMPACT ON SOCIETY? WHAT CUL- TURAL INFLUENCE DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE, AS FOOTBALL PLAYERS AND DECISION-MAKERS? MAGDA: It’s massive. Even some- thing as small as a haircut can inspire kids to change their own hairstyle. I think we haven’t, as women football players, really understood this. At least, I hadn’t thought this until this tournament, when that picture went viral and I could see the response, and the reactions, and could hear what people had to say to us. It made me understand that, ‘Okay, I am actually a role model to people’, and it made me feel that I want to be the best version of me that I can be. PERNILLE: It’s the same for me. In men’s football, of course, the impact is really big and the players are aware of it. As for us women, we have to understand how women’s football has been growing during the last few years and how big it has actually become. We play as role models individually, but also together, having come out and having to be open about it. I didn’t realise until that picture came out how big of an inspiration we actually are for a lot of people. OBVIOUSLY A KEY FEATURE OF COMMON GOAL IS THAT IT’S A COLLECTIVE EFFORT. YOU ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP AND ARE VERY SUPPORTIVE OF EACH OTHER. ALTHOUGH YOU ARE PLAYING PERNILLE HARDER FROM VFL WOLFSBURG AND CHELSEA F.C. WOMEN’S MAGDA ERIKSSON MADE HEADLINES THIS YEAR BOTH ON AND OFF THE PITCH. PERNILLE WAS DUBBED UEFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR, WHILST MAGDA REACHED AN IMPRESSIVE THIRD PLACE AT THE WORLD CUP WITH SWEDEN. TOGETHER, THEY HAVE ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES AS ROLE MODELS, AND AS A SYMBOL OF INCLUSIVITY AND OPEN-MINDEDNESS IN THE FOOTBALL INDUSTRY. THEIR MOST RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT IS THEIR JOINT SIGNING WITH COMMON GOAL. WE TRAVELLED TO WOLFSBURG TO CHAT WITH THE MOVEMENT ’S NEWEST MEMBERS ABOUT THE ROLES THEY ASPIRE TO PLAY AS PART OF THE COMMON GOAL TEAM. & A CHAT WITH THE LATEST COMMON GOAL MEMBERS PERNILLE HARDER MAGDA ERIKSSON Pernille Harder and Magda Eriksson meet in Wolfsburg for an interview with The Guardian. 10 11