Arsenal Women midfielder Frida Maanum just reminds everyone how football is not a sport that divides fans and drives any sort of hostility between hardcore supporters of different clubs, but a sport where the quality of football and the well-being of every single athlete is at the forefront of everyone’s interest.
Maanum collapsed in the Women’s League Cup in the much-anticipated match between Arsenal and Chelsea. In the 96th minute, the game was paused when suddenly everybody saw the Norwegian player lying on the ground in what was thought -at that time- a situation where she was unresponsive. The paramedics rushed into the field to take all necessary actions to get Maanum out, while the whole crowd at Molineux fell silent.
It was a shocking moment for everyone, not only the teammates of Frida or the Chelsea players who watched another professional football player on the ground. It was shocking for the spectators, who were there to watch the Women’s League Cup final live. It was also shocking for the viewers at home, who would be in some house or pub in the UK watching the match, supporting almost religiously Arsenal Women or Chelsea Women. But it was also shocking for other stakeholders such as bettors having placed a wager on a site offering online betting in Australia for example.
In fact, for everyone watching the match on the TV or streaming it, it was kind of difficult because they got to see only what the camera chose to show and they were left wondering what was going on exactly, without being able to tell whether Maanum demonstrated any signs of responsiveness and consciousness.
And just as it was shocking for everyone, there comes a moment when you realize that nothing else matters, other than the well-being of everyone involved in sports. You actually, never want to see anyone collapsing. There are no circumstances or conditions that football fans expect to watch football players being down in the pitch and wait to see whether it is something really bad going on there, or it is something lighter than that. There are no circumstances where even hardcore fans of the opposing club want anything gone wrong, just to see their favorite team win in the end. All that matters is well-being and good football.
After Frida Maanum’s collapse, everyone was still worried, even though there were signs of her being responsive once stretched out of the Molineux’s pitch. The match was not canceled and even though everyone felt numb, seven minutes later it was resumed. Maanum’s teammates most likely felt the need to send her a message, by doing everything they could in order to bring in some sort of balance in the mood of everyone watching. It was all about giving spectators some quality football, driving away their attention from what was going on with the midfielder collapsing, and of course, ending the match in the most desirable way for the Arsenal Women and for anyone who had wagered on the Gunners to win the Cup with some betting site or online bookmaker at ApostasDesportivas.tv.
Arsenal went on to win in the end, defeating Chelsea 1-0, with the goal scored by Blackstenius in the 26th minute of extra time. And of course, the goal was dedicated to Maanum, whom all her teammates admitted to having in their minds whilst playing till the game was finished. Russo even noted that she believes it was some kind of sign that Blackstenius scored the goal: “I think it was written in the stars that her best mate went and scored the winner for her” she said.
