Alviks IF won with Gothia Boost Tour

Together with its partners, Gothia Cup helped the girls from Alviks IF to participate in this years G14 tournament.

Alviks IF could not afford to go to Gothia Cup this year. But after they won the Gothia Boost Tour they could participate and play.
– I was shocked and surprised when we won and really happy. I didn't know what to say when they told us we won and were going as a Gothia Boost team, says Sanna Lundgren, a player with Alvik's G14 team.

Last year all Swedish teams could apply for free participation in this years Gothia Cup by telling how the pandemic had affected them – and how they had kept their spirits up. Alviks IF team for girls born in 2008 were one of the lucky winners of the Boost Tour.
– We had a lot of pep talks, training outside doing other things than football sometimes. We worked hard at having a friendly team spirit and how to talk to each other, both on and off the pitch, says Sanna Lundgren.

When the news that they had won was going to be announced, they were fooled as well. And also very happily surprised!
– They said we had an extra practise but it was stopped. Then they said we had to go and thank another team from the club for this year. When we got back they had hung stuff up and then they said we had won. I was really surprised, says Ebba Hedmån another player on the team.

The team from Luleå has never played a game south of Umeå, 1000 kilometers north of Gothenburg. For the first time ever they are in a large football tournament and playing teams from the whole world.
– Normally we don't get to play in the big tournaments since we live so far north. Most of them are down here in the south. So this is our first glimpse of how large the football world really is, says Hedmån and continues:
– It's a new experience. There's a difference in playing teams from other parts of Sweden and from other countries. It's a new experience, everything about Gothia Cup is an experience.

The Gothia Boost teams also got to represent Sweden in the opening ceremony. For Sanna Lundgren that has been the highlight of the tournament so far.
– The opening ceremony was the best. We got to represent Sweden during it and I don't even know how to explain it. It was just such an amazing feeling, she says.