We Are Chelsea - Super Swedes with Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Nathalie Björn

Episode Date: September 25, 2024

This is We are Chelsea, the official podcast of Chelsea Women, brought to you in association with Škoda, the official car partner of Chelsea Women and proud supporters of women's sport. www.skoda.co.uk Caz De Moraes is joined by Swedish international teammates Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Nathalie Björn as they share stories about their friendship… and even finish each other’s sentences. How would they describe each other in three words? What would they do if they weren’t playing football? And do they ever spend any time apart? To watch the full episode on YouTube, click here: https://www.youtube.com/@chelseafc/videos Send us your questions to [e-mail] #WeAreChelsea Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The meekos are not the same in IKEA here And everyone's like, oh, I love the meatballs from IKEA And I'm like, it's not the same. What? Yeah, the sauce. This is We Are Chelsea, the official podcast of Chelsea women Brought to you in association with Skoda, the official car partner of Chelsea women and proud supporters of women's sport.

I'm Kazdemorese, and today I'm joined by two more Chelsea players. It's Johanna, writing Carnrid, and Natalie Bjorn. They're Chelsea teammates, international teammates for Sweden, and I'm also told that they're best friends too. So let's find out, shall we? This is We Are Chelsea with Johanna writing Canrid and Natalie Bjorn. Well, I'm very excited to be joined by Natalie and Johanna. Girls, welcome back to the pod. How are you? Good, thank you.

How are you? I'm very well. I'm so excited that we're back for series two. And I want to start off by asking you about your amazing suntans. because you look very tanned with beautiful skin. Where have you been? We've been all over Europe, it feels like. We've been to Spain, Italy, good weather in Sweden.

Actually. And was this on holiday together or separately? Together, of course. We do everything together. Yeah. BFFs. We spent two weeks apart this summer and it felt like forever. It was so weird.

It was so weird. I love that. Work together, see each other every day and you holiday together. yeah proper BFFs yeah you know when I was a teenager we used to get those little um teddy teddy bear necklaces that says forever friends oh would you get that for each other but we actually have I don't have it on now what do you have we got it in America so we the little world yeah the little world project soul sister it says yeah so I also have one but yeah I don't have it now I'm sorry it's a little bit cheek but yeah you say cheesy cheesy she's it

It's like we're 27 years old and we have sold I think that's so cute I really love that and you got it in America yeah what in preseason you guys what are you going to do if one of you leaves oh my god

we can think about that we don't have to it'd have to be a buy one get one free sort of thing yeah two for one when did you become friends was it in the national team yeah we like

the first time we met was maybe when we were 15, 16 or something. And then it just clicked straight away. Yeah. And then we played together in Rosengar as well, in Sweden. Okay. So. And then since that, it's just been, yeah, full on. On a typical day, you've spent all days together training, having lunch maybe.

Would you then see each other after training as well? Yeah. But sometimes we have to take a break because we need to clean our apartments and like do laundry and go grocery shopping. But then we do like FaceTime. Yeah. We like, no, we don't spend more than like our. No, but it's so bad.

Yeah. Like today we were going to go grocery shop together, but we were too tired. So I would just leave you, you at home. Then I pick her up tomorrow morning. Same time. Same place. Why don't you just live together? I mean, we did in the beginning.

And now we're thinking to just go back to me. Why not? Would you live next door? Would you live next door? How far away do you live from each other? Like five, ten minutes by car. Five, ten minutes. minutes and you still need to do your grocery shopping and everything together i love this friendship

your friendship goals this is so cute and you've also done a lot together on the pitch do you think your friendship really helps your relationship on the pitch yeah for sure we know each other better than anyone else so of course i know what nat's strengths are and how to use that and hopefully know mine as well yeah no but of course and like can discuss situations especially i'm a defender you're an attacking player like to help each other from that we usually watch games together as well to just see like same in the national team we watch it together discuss different situations that occur during the game and yeah it just feels like we help each other a lot in that you've had a lot to celebrate winning the WSL silver medalist and then bronze medalist how do you guys

celebrate we love to go out and celebrate you've got such a cheeky smart she's like to go out and celebrate. Yeah, but that's the best thing with our friendship as well, that we like the same things. And like we can always always like count on each other. Yeah. We, yeah, if we have a night out, it's you and me standing there until we both feel like, okay, now it's time.

Now the place is closing. Yeah. We have to go home. That's typical. Well, in my experience, my Swedish friends, that is typical Swedes. They are there until the end, a bit like the Irish. They're there until the end. Of course.

And are you the kind of Swedes that would take your heels and go home with them in your hands? Yeah, for sure. For sure. So in some ways, very similar to some British cities. Yeah. You do well in some English places, for sure. How has it been being part of the national team

doing all these big competitions, the Olympics, the World Cup? What was that experience like? But it's massive. It's like something you dream of when you grow up to represent your country and then be able to be in this big tournaments and then of course with like your best friend by your side it's very unique I think

and being able to live those moments I don't really think like now when you're living it that you're really thinking about it I think it would be more like after that you can look back to it and be like oh but we did this tournament together or we did this together so like now I don't think too much about it it's just like I don't know

but I'm really grateful to have that opportunity to do that like represent your country together with your best friend have your families met yeah funny story so this summer we actually or I took my family to your family's what do you call it summer cab

summer house and you spend a day with them and like we're like have pretty similar families so we both are we both have three siblings each I mean I have five but three on my dad's hide So I brought three of my brothers And then I say I brought like

Yeah my whole family went there And yeah it was such a It was a really nice day in the evening And then they met through like the national team camps and stuff Of course so But it was just nice to spend time with everyone Yeah Outside football so

Just like hang out and Yeah but big big families We do have big families Yeah And is it like a big big house or is it a cabin on the lake where you're swimming what do you do when you're trying to relax and get your mind off the lake yeah okay we went fishing we went out on a this what we call it yeah rowing boat and the paddleboard and we did we shoot and we had had a barbecue

and played some games i played games what games did you play we played um we played some cards and then what else did we play did we even play now when I think about it And I think it was our parents that played. Yeah. We were with the kids. We were with the kids. We were 27, but we rather... I think they played cards and we were out fishing. Okay.

I was going to ask when you said that you played games, do you get very competitive? This one. Really? I think I may have asked you that last series, actually. You get very competitive. I know you were a sore loser. I am. But I'm working on it.

I'm working on it. To try to not take everything too serious. But I don't know what's happening. with me. Like when we were away with the team in American now as well I think people like saw the real me. Yeah. So I got a new nickname. We're not going to

say it here. Yeah, we are. You can't drink. After we played the ping pong tournament. So everyone is like, yeah, you're so sweet and everything. But sweet but psycho is my unique name. So there's a song I think. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. We're like, oh she's, we're about a psycho. you are so competitive so competitive you are as well no not as much as her okay but sometimes you can get really mad yeah and especially on me yeah but she can come like the day after and be like you know what you did yesterday i was like we already play this game leave it that's so typical love you don't bring up your own behaviors but you bring up hers i love that so it is true you are like siblings you are like sisters that's what sisters do And poke each other and just be annoying. Have you ever, like, FaceTimed each other and watch TV in your own houses at the same time?

Like, watch a game maybe, but not like, we don't really like the same TV shows. Oh, interesting. So that's something that you can't do together. No. But it's like if we say that we call each other, then maybe we speak, but then maybe you're watching something, maybe I'm cooking at the same time. like so we can just have each other there but it's not like oh we're gonna watch this movie together no okay so you don't watch movies but you will still just live life on face time yeah how does your twin brother feel about your relationship because i'm guessing you're probably closer yeah

i am then you are your own twin yeah i am i feel like i never time to like speak to them because i'm always like we're always doing stuff yeah so no but i know he's like commenting of like few times like can you are you never alone or like can we talk yeah like when you lived at my place I went out for a walk to just have a talk with you. We said in different films called her family members and then like it's time for dinner. It's so weird. I love that. If you had to describe each other in three words how would you describe each other? Oh do you remember when we did that day like on the night out and that was like she's nice funny and like something and then one hour later you're like sorry sorry I used to

because everyone was so nice it was like us to Neve and Kat and we were really nice to each other like oh but I think you are this you are this and then with you I was like she's funny and nice and then they were so deep

and then I felt like oh I have to I need to dig deep okay well dig deep I would say that Yo-Yo is very caring okay caring that's caring always put other others in front of herself

and I always want to make sure that everyone else is happy around her oh wow that's a very cute that's very sweet i want you to be my friend now yeah yeah yeah but caring 100% i would say loyal as well very loyal and uh do you want me to say funny yeah yeah she's very funny she is well i believe you now she is no but loyal caring and funny yeah i feel like when i say exactly the same very boring but i feel like i want to say exactly the same very boring but i feel like I want to say exactly the same thing because I think that's why we're matching so well as well

but you are no you're the funniest person I know and like you are the most caring person I know as well so and you're very funny yeah say that yes you do we always get it's like we don't really show affection in that way no no you're not kind of you're a teasey friendship yeah we can also be like deep yeah if we need that will be that yeah so are you if would you if you're having a hard day and you're really sad are you most likely to call each other or a family member or someone else no but i think if i have a bad day first of all you will notice straight away yeah if i have a bad session or whatever and you will be exactly okay maybe she just leave her alone or maybe she needs to talk about it or

something but of course i would like call you if i need to get out stuff in my system i always yeah I always talk to you about it. But that's also that's why it's so nice to have, like, you here and see as well, to speak in your own language. So if you have a hard session and you feel like this was a shit day, like you can speak directly and then you can get your emotions out. Yeah. So it's nice to have them here and being able to speak like face to face and to call someone

and the emotions are maybe, yeah, you know, we can go up and down. So I think it's really nice and, yeah, that we speak with each other. Like if it happens, if you need space, I can tell that, oh, I need space or you need space or you need space well you guys have just made me want to join your gang the super sweet yeah sweet by psychos yeah we need four um let's talk a little bit about Swedish customs is there anything that you guys always do when you're here i mean i'm going to be really stereotypical and think do you love meatballs like what is what is the swede customs that you can't live without we spoke about it in the car on the way here can you see yeah but it's like in sweden we eat

it sounds so bad also a little bit giggling so like it's called Korv Stroganoff and everyone is with a nose so it's like a sausage a special sausage special it's like

it looks like this okay it's curved and then you have like onion you have tomato paste you can have some mustard in it you can have cream you can do a little bit with every family has your own recipe Oh, okay. Can you guys cook this?

Yeah. Yeah. Have you ever cooked it for the team? No, not everyone. No. Maybe. Oh, not everyone. No, but like...

If you were selected, you're a very exclusive duo, I'm realizing. But that's the thing. We can't find it in the stores here. No. It's like, you have this weird, I don't know, thing. We can't find like a good one here. Is there not like a Swedish store? Yeah, it is. You tried going to IKEA.

Yeah, but it's not like the mikos are not. the same in IKEA here and everyone's like oh I love the meatballs from Ikea and I'm like it's not the same yeah what yeah the sauce oh the sauce also the gravy they have gravy here ah the gravy yeah it's me bread sauce but they don't sell the sausage no no oh what IKEA so you game out oh I didn't realize I mean Ikea will definitely not be sponsoring this podcast now absolutely they're too sweet but scan the kitchen cap oh yeah okay so So you, but so they're strong enough, you can cook it. Every family has its own meal and that's what you miss.

Yeah, the most. And then the other day, see you made cinnamon buns. Yeah, I remember that from when I was in Sweden. So very, very tasty. Now reversing it, are there any British customs that you like or dislike or you find weird? You look like you were going to go. The list is very long. Yeah, the list is very long.

No, I'm talking. But I think the breakfast is a little bit weird The full English breakfast Do you think it's weird? Okay, what's weird about it? Is it the beans? I'm also beans, but I like the beans So that's fine for me

But like sausage for breakfast Okay That's like more food What is your breakfast of choice? I eat almost everything But is it more sweet than savory Is that what's weird about it? But it's just so different

Yeah, from like what we would normally eat More sweet, I would say. Yeah, more sweet. But like you always eat porridge. But I always eat the same thing. I'm very like a boring person when it comes to. Go on, what's your breakfast? I always have the same porridge every morning with some protein powder and then frozen blueberries and almond milk.

That's like my go to. And is that also very Swedish? No, I wouldn't say that. No, I don't know. What's a typical Swedish breakfast then? Why is it so. Sandwiches and yogurt, I would say. Like sandwiches?

Have you heard about caviar? caviar yeah okay sorry you're you're dissing the full english because we have a sausage when you have caviar for breakfast it's not the caviar you're thinking about i think it's like a paste you call it that in a tube so people eat that with like eggs with a sandwich with boiled eggs with boy okay girls no offense but we have different sandwiches and like bread yeah oh they're bread. Well, I'm expecting a sandwich to have bread. Yeah, but like hard bread, for example. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, like the kind of rye bread that you've got. Yeah, I'm not being funny. No, it's just different. I think you guys are weird on this. I think the listeners will agree with me that I'll take an English breakfast

over tubed caviar paste on hard rye bread. I mean, it is not my favorite, but no, it's, yeah, it's This podcast is brought to you by Skoda, the official car partner of Chelsea women and proud supporters of women's sport. It's football season, time for afterwork training, muddy boots and early morning weekend games. Whether you're playing five-a-side after work, cheering the kids on from the sidelines on a Saturday morning, or gathering with your mates to watch the big leagues each weekend. Scoda's the perfect companion for your everyday adventures. Zip around town in the fully electric eniac, or give the squad a lift home in the all-new seven-seater Kodiak.

There's something in the range to suit teams of all shapes and sizes. Don't just take my word for it, though. Search the Skoda Range today to jump in and see for yourself. How has pre-season been with the change? Because I feel like there's a lot of pressure maybe on the manager because there's been so much success historically. and she's also been very successful not at Chelsea elsewhere in her career and so everyone's just got excited yeah for sure like she's a winner like um i think everyone could feel that from from the beginning like this is the demands this is what she expect or the whole staff

expect from us and i think if you play in Chelsea you know what it means and what you what you should do so i mean it's not a big different in that way because I feel like we always had that pressure on us but I mean personal I love that pressure and yeah I think it's good to get a change and yeah I feel like it's a it's a good much no I completely agree I think that like you said being in Chelsea it's the winning mentality that everyone speaks about and then obviously being successful in the league and out in Europe and I think with Sonia now I think it's a fresh start for everyone to kind of start over again and have some she's coming in with some new ideas and how she wants to play

football and she's being really clear on the way she wants to play and she's demanding a lot from us but she's also telling us to be brave and to take risk in the way we want to play for example but I think that's a good balance to have that you have those demands but still you need the confidence to be able to win and do you like that she's telling you that you can be brave and take risks and do you feel that you still want to take risk because sometimes you'd imagine a new manager has come in there's a lot of expectation that maybe you do want to play it safe yeah i mean like for person personally personally yes exactly thank you i love the pressure like yo you said and having those demands and being brave because that's

also the way that i play for example if i speak about myself and being brave on the ball and want to have the ball all the time and like you say of course there's always going to be that balance of okay can I do this or will I maybe if I do a mistake will I play next game like it's always a balance and those thoughts in your head but I think it's good if we want to win out in Europe that's that's what we want to do and take that next step so I think it's good that she is pushing us to be brave it's always good to have that in the back of your head that okay they want me to be uh um yeah they encourage me to do one we once or whatever it's always good to know that because then you get like more confident about it and you know they

have my back so they want me to do it and of course if that's the type of player I am I want to get out my strains on the pitch so I think that's very good and I guess my last question is going to be what are your team expectations for this season and then what are your personal goals for this season oh I mean winning everything we can win it shouldn't be yeah it's the most clear thing ever, I think. We want to win everything. And of course, Champions League is something we haven't won so far. So of course, that's something we want to win. And personally, for me, I want to be helping the team with scoring goals, doing assist. I feel like that's the next step for me. And yeah, last year was a very, like, learning year for me. Do you say learning year?

Yeah. I don't know. They understand. Yeah. And so I think this. year it's more about actually doing it. Yeah, I think that's my goals. Very good goals. Very good goals. Very good. I will support you in that. No, for me, it's also helping the team to achieve as much as possible. And then for me to play as much as possible, like the competition in this squad is massive. We have a lot of games, but I want to be a player that Sonia can rely on. And so getting as much as much game time as possible. I love it. I'm going to finish on a very, maybe silly question.

If you weren't Chelsea professional footballers, what job would you be doing? I would be a nurse. A nurse? I was not expecting that. Why would you be a nurse? It's like something I've been wanted to become for a long time because it's like a wide, the how do you say foundation

so you have that education and then you can choose if you want to be like a nurse in the hospital or if you want to go with the ambulance or I don't know if it's exactly the same translation in English but you have options yeah you have options and I love to work with people

and I love like work with elderly people so yeah so a nurse is something I wanted to become for a really long time and you don't mind like blood and cuts and gore and no no i don't think so i don't know that i'm like no no she's like no i love it i love blood no but yeah so i would become a nurse so maybe after football i would become a nurse

yeah who knows what would i be you know me bedrim itself what do you think she'd be good at if she wasn't a footballer yeah but something with beauty yeah or like fashion or you know what I mean maybe not fashion makeup artists or something yeah I think that's my type of yeah something yeah probably that I love that I didn't know that makeup artist I don't know if I yeah but we said it before yeah yeah but you're like I don't know but you're good at it I'm not good at but I'm interesting yeah yeah yeah do you watch like YouTube videos and yeah I do I love it I can see that you're very beautiful and you've got really good skin. Thank you. So I would trust you doing my makeup. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Yeah. Thank you. I love it. I've made it. I've taken the podcast in a different direction now. We're thinking about everything else. Yeah. The fans are like, we want to hear about football. I'm like, she's going to be a nerve. It's a makeup artist. Let's do it. Yeah, we have to, you have to join the super Swedish Sweden on a coffee or something. We can speak about everything. Yes. I would love that. But not breakfast. A hundred seven. No, we just take like a Swedish fika, a coffee and a bun. Yeah. That would be nice. All the Strugganoff. You saw. me the strong enough is a good idea as well yeah that's true i like that but the breakfast not not a breakfast no keep it keep your breakfast i'll take my own not being funny how dare you slate the english breakfast when you're having caviar out of a tube on dry why did i say that i don't know

you're you don't eat that i don't need it it's just a thing like a sweet thing everyone should try yeah anyways there you go listeners you can all try it ladies thank you so much for joining me Thank you. It's been so much fun. We promised to come back. Yes. Of course. Yes. We will come back.

Yeah. In like a few months maybe. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. But we will come back. It was lovely. Yeah.

I think you're both very funny. Oh, thank you. And you've made me want to join your group. Yes. Mission accomplished. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for listening to We Are Chelsea, the official podcast of Chelsea women,

brought to you in association with SCoda, the official car partner of Chelsea women and proud supporters of women's sport. Over the coming season, I'll be speaking in depth to more of Chelsea's top players. Let us know who you want on the podcast and remember to subscribe. Give us a review and send in your questions to We Are Chelsea at chelseafc.com. See you next time.