Sweden vs. Italy (Public Punishment)
July 29, 2023
Sweden vs. Italy, halftime 3-0
It had, Sofia Jakobsson had to admit, been an amazing first half for Sweden, even if they'd had a slow start. She was glad to see Amanda break the nil-nil deadlock in the thirty-ninth minute, opening the scoring for Sweden with an amazing goal past the Italian keeper. Just five minutes later, Fridolina Rolfo doubled Sweden's lead, and the next minute, Stina tripled it, with one of her amazing goals that Coach loved so damn much.
Stop it, Eva Sofia, she reminded herself. A 3-0 lead coming into halftime was nothing to be upset about. And yet, she found herself sulking on the bench. Because she was on the bench. With Amanda, Frido, and Stina all shining like that - well, Sofia was glad for them, of course she was, and proud of Sweden. But it was still...well, annoying.
"Casey would have put me in sooner."
Kosse raised her eyebrows, catching the muttered remark. "I thought we'd had this little talk, Eva Sofia Jakobsson."
"Maybe we're feeling a bit out of sorts, Sof?" Magdalena Eriksson prompted gently, sitting next to her fellow brat and running a hand through Sofia's blonde ponytail. "I'm not so sure it's just being on the bench."
Sofia squirmed, staring at the ground. "W-what...I don't know what you mean, Magda," she ventured.
Magda's eyebrows rose, too, and she snorted. "Uh huh. You're a terrible liar, Sof, sweetheart. You'd be over P's knee already, if you were me and if she was here."
Sofia blushed. "I'm not," she protested weakly. "I'm not lying, Magda, I really don't know."
Magda and Kosse shared a look, and were joined a minute later by Caroline Seger. The three Swedish captains surrounded Sofia. Magda put her arm around Sofia, while Caroline and Kosse stood on either side of the pair, arms folded.
"This looks familiar," Caro said meaningfully, and Sofia jolted slightly.
"W-what...you mean...oh," Sofia mumbled, staring at her lap.
"Have you been to the Classification Centre yet, Sofia?" Caro asked pointedly, and hastily, Sofia nodded.
"I arranged things with Rachel, but she's not..." Sofia trailed off, meeting Caroline's eyes warily. "Oh."
"Like I said," Magda sighed, shaking her head. "If P saw you, you'd be over her knee already, no arguments."
Sofia grimaced. Years of avoiding submitting properly, staving off symptoms of drop with caffeine and other such things, meant she just wasn't used to proper procedure. She'd been afraid, she knew, but she knew equally that running from it wouldn't be allowed anymore, now that Caro, Kosse, and Magda were all watching out for her.
"Come on then Sof," Kosse prompted. "If you want in during the second half, you can't be like this. Ask for it."
Sofia paled. "Ask?" she whispered.
Kosse nodded. "You know we all love you and want what's best for you, Sofia," she said gently. "We just want you to be alright. And if your head's not in the right space, you can't play."
"Can't?" Sofia's eyes were round.
"Do you want off the bench next half, Sof?" Caro asked gently, and Sofia nodded quickly.
"Yes please Caro, I promise, I'll show Coach I've earned my spot, I'll be so good, I--"
"Then ask," Caro prompted.
“I…help me,” Sofia appealed to Magda, who smiled reassuringly at Sofia, squeezing her hand.
“Go get P’s paddle, Sof. I know you have the one she sent you.”
Sofia sighed reluctantly and got up off the bench in the dressing room, feeling like she was wading through an ocean of fellow Swedes as her teammates surrounded her. She made her way back to her bag and looked inside. The implements she’d received at her Swedish birthday party, maintenance implements, Magda said, were residing there. The paddle Pernille had sent was there. She took it out gingerly, and returned to Magda, Caro, and Kosse with it.
“Here it is, Captains,” she offered.
“Ask for what you need, Eva Sofia,” Caro prompted, and as Sofia stood there, shifting from one foot to the other uncertainly, she sighed. “Lillan,” she said more gently. “Tell me. Are you a naughty brat in need of maintenance today?”
Sofia’s cheeks flushed and she dropped her gaze. “I…I guess so,” she offered. “I mean, yes, ma’am,” she corrected herself, though Caro didn’t seem upset by the hesitation.
“Then what do we say, Eva Sofia?” Caro prompted. “I don’t need some exact phrase,” she added reassuringly. “Whatever you can think of, as long as it’s respectful and shows me you understand.”
Sofia took a deep, slow breath, looking down at Pernille’s gift and swallowing hard. “I…am a naughty brat in need of maintenance, ma’am,” she offered slowly. “Please, correct me so I can go into the match with a clear head today.” Her inflection made it more of a question than an absolute statement, but Caro nodded, pleased.
“Oh, there’s my good girl, lillan. Asking for what you need, just right. I’ll be happy to help you, Sofia, I want you to play today just as much as you want to, after all.”
Sofia exhaled in relief, glad she’d pleased Caroline. She couldn’t help tensing a little when she was turned over Caroline’s lap on the bench, there in the dressing room where all their teammates could see, and Sofia blushed brightly as Caro tugged down her bottoms, baring her backside for the swats.
Caro patted Sofia’s bare bottom with her hand, beginning to spank her with firm swats that made Sofia squirm. She counted up silently to fifteen, hiding her face in her arms so she couldn’t see the team’s eyes on her. Then, Caro switched to P’s paddle, swatting down lightly.
She was using the side that had brat carved into it, Sofia realized, gasping. “Oh - ow, Caro,” she cried out, and Caro’s other hand rubbed the back of Sofia’s neck as eighteen more light smacks followed. Taken all together, the really not very hard swats hadn’t been enough to mark Sofia, though she definitely felt more tender where the word brat had touched her bottom. The paddling hadn’t been hard enough to keep her from playing, Caro had been very careful. But even so, Sofia was sobbing over her lap.
“Easy, easy lillan, I know, I know,” Caro crooned gently. “Good girl, our good Sof, you took your smacks so well. It’s alright now, settle, you’re okay,” she murmured, rubbing Sofia’s bottom gently and then pulling Sofia’s panties and shorts back up.
Sofia’s breath hitched. “S-sorry, sorry Caro, I’ll…I’ll try and remember to ask,” she promised tearfully.
“I know you will, lillan. Easy now, here, have some water,” Caro soothed, and Sofia sat up gingerly on Caro’s lap, accepting the water bottle.
When it was time for Sweden to retake the field, Sofia didn’t get subbed in immediately. She spent another half hour on the bench, squirming on her sore (but not unbearably sore) bottom, and watching Amanda score another goal practically right out of the gate.
In the seventy-fifth minute, Sofia was called on for Johanna Kaneryd. It wasn’t as though she was replacing a forward, she thought, still a little upset by that. Still, on the field was on the field, and she’d try and play keeper if she had to, to get minutes. She dove into the game, grateful to be out there, in the mix of her fellow Swedes (trying to forget they’d all seen Caro paddling her a short while ago).
In the final minutes of the match, she paired up with Stina for an attempt on goal, only to be called foul. Earlier, Sofia reflected, she might have blown up at this, but with a warm, glowing reminder to behave behind her, she managed to control her temper. She wasn’t carded, and neither was Stina, though Stina was immediately substituted for Rebecka Blomqvist.
Becka immediately scored, finishing the match with a 5-0 win for Sweden.
And, Sofia thought wonderingly, somehow she couldn’t find it in herself to be mad about it. Maybe she hadn’t scored, but she’d done something. And that was enough, Sofia supposed.
Besides, they had beaten Italy. That meant they were absolutely through to the round of 16.
A new worry gnawed in the pit of Sofia’s stomach. They would be facing one of the top two teams of Group E, she realized, depending on whether Sweden came through first or second, and what happened in the other group. The USWNT and the Netherlands were looking most likely so far.
If it was the US against Sweden…what would happen to AT? One of them would be going home without the other.
Swallowing nervously, Sofia joined the victory celebration, and promised she’d stop borrowing trouble. What would come…would come. She just hoped it wouldn’t ruin things with her lillasyster, at AT’s first ever World Cup.
They’d have to wait and see.