WHEN England face Germany in the Euro 2022 final tomorrow, two players will know each other better than most.
In a fairytale story, the English Jess Carter will stand in line on the other side of her partner Ann-Katrin Berger.
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Berger, 31, is part of the German squad looking for a win NINTH Euro title.
While Carter, 24, was off the bench for the Lionesses once during their historic run to the final.
But on Sunday, the pair will be enemies for 90 minutes, or even 120 if the final moves to extra time or a dreaded penalty shootout.
England defender Carter first met Berger in June 2018 when the German keeper joined her future partner at Birmingham City.
But it wasn’t until the pair both moved to Chelsea – Carter in 2018 and Berger a year later – that they first got together.
Carter and Berger are now happily in a long-term relationship, but on Sunday evening they go home unhappy.
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The pair are well aware of tomorrow’s venue, having won the FA Cup with Chelsea on the same pitch earlier this year.
And after Germany secured their place in the final with a win over France, Chelsea took to social media, posted a photo of the pair and wrote: “Well, good, we’ll see you both at Wembley!”
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Carter has previously spoken about her relationship with Berger as part of the Rainbow Laces campaign, and how she hopes talking about their same-sex relationship will encourage others to do the same.
In December, Carter said, “I think I was — and probably still am — more comfortable than Ann is with publicizing our relationship.
“But that’s just because Ann is a very private person, whereas I’m more of a person the whole world could know and I don’t really care.”
“Over time and because I’ll say something, she’s kind of got used to it and she’s okay with it. She doesn’t shout about it, but when asked, it’s no secret either.
“Not everyone finds it easy to let the world know who they are with, but I think it’s the same in straight and gay relationships.”
Carter suggested that publishing a same-sex relationship might be more difficult for more famous players.
She continued: “I think for a lot of people it depends on your profile, for example if you are a player with a bigger name then you might get more oversight on it.
“In addition, if your family isn’t very confident about it, it can be harder to make it so public.
“So I think it depends on each person’s personal situation. And they might as well just see it as if it’s nobody else, so maybe they don’t want to say it.
“So there could be many reasons, but whatever the situation, we have to respect each other.”
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