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The couple who play together, stay together.
That certainly seems to be the case for Matildas star Ellie Carpenter and her partner, Dutch player Daniëlle van de Donk, who have been described as one of women’s football’s “power couples”.
They’ve also both been described, in the early stages of their careers, as prodigies of the game, with Carpenter becoming the youngest-ever female player to compete at the Olympics when she was just 15.
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Likewise, Van de Donk was also tagged early as a rising star to watch.
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The pair met after Carpenter moved from playing in the US National Women’s Soccer League to joining the French football club Olympic Lynonnaise in 2020, which van de Donk joined a year later after moving from Arsenal.
When a video was shared on Instagram of the duo having dinner on Valentine’s Day last year, speculation mounted that they were a couple – but nothing was confirmed at the time.
And when Lyonnaise won the Champions League in May 2022, they both shared a photo to their respective social media account of them kissing the winning trophy with the caption: “This one is special”.
The pair went Instagram official during post-win celebrations in St Tropez, posting pictures that made it clear they were romantically involved.
Matildas player Ellie Carpenter, right, and with partner Danielle van de Donk. Credit: Instagram/Getty
Each began to appear more frequently on the other’s Instagram accounts and when van de Donk scored the winning goal for Netherlands in a July match at the UEFA Women’s Euro tournament, she made a heart shape with her hands and directed in into the stands.
In a later video shared to the Netherlands team’s YouTube channel, van de Donk said the gesture was “for everyone I love”, including her family and her girlfriend.
In August 2022, van de Donk joined Carpenter on a trip Down Under, where they took a ferry ride across the Sydney Harbour, visited Taronga Zoo, and spent some time at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
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Since they they have visited London together, shared Christmas with one another, and in April this year the couple celebrated Carpenter’s 23rd birthday in Switzerland.
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Fortunately, the couple didn’t have to face off against each other on the field during the FIFA Women’s World Cup, as Australia did not play against the Netherlands at any stage of the tournament.
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