Euro 2022: Hegerberg’s Norway bow out with a fizzle
July 16, 2022
A lot happened to Ada Hegeberg during her nearly five year absence from the Norwegian national team. She won a bundle of domestic titles with Lyon.
A brutal knee injury kept her sidelined for 21 months. She returned to the pitch just in time to lead the French side to yet another Champions League trophy, her sixth, and amassed a collection of individual honors to accompany her team silverware, headlined by becoming the first ever woman Ballon d'Or winner.
But for all Hegerberg has accomplished in the ensuing years, her latest Norway match mirrored the last one she played before her break in 2017: a bitterly disappointing end to an underwhelming European Championship, that puts her teammates on an early flight home.
"Everyone has a responsibility in this, myself included," Hegerberg said after Norway's 1-0 loss to Austria.
"It's almost that I want to apologize because of all the support we've got," she continued.
Norway folded under the heaving weight of expectations set off by the return of one of the world’s best players. While they opened the tournament on a positive, defeating Northern Ireland 4-1, their 8-0 loss to England is the most lopsided defeat in Euros history, and is unlikely to be topped anytime soon. Their failure was compounded on Friday as they fell to Austria in a do-or-die group stage showdown.
Bouncing back from that abysmal performance had been in the crosshairs for the Norway camp leading into the match. "Of course [the England result] was a hard blow for us, everyone has been working with themselves and working together as a team to build some energy again," said Norway coach Martin Sjögren before kick-off.
Sjörgen, who called Norway’s performance against England 'horrible', cannot be pleased with his side's listless response against Austria. Though the Austrians were set to advance with just a draw, they were the ones playing with fiery urgency from the start. That they only scored once, with a beautifully lofted header from an unmarked Nicole Billa in the 37th minute, is nearly as shocking as Norway's surprise exit given the Scandinavian's low-energy effort.
Dulled stars light years apart
Euro 2022 was meant to be a triumphant moment for Hegeberg. The off-field disputes with the Norwegian FA consigned to history, she was poised to shine where it matters most; on the pitch. Yet she showed none of the fearless goalscoring verve that has made her the Champions League's record goalscorer.
Her personal tournament highlight occurred much earlier than anyone would have guessed a week ago. Just 13 minutes into Norway's opener against Northern Ireland, her square ball allowed Frida Maanum to tap home the game's second goal. Since then, Hegerberg has either been thwarted by opposing keepers or has failed to connect with her teammates. In the final match she frequently sent wayward passes beyond onrushing attackers, was often muscled off the ball by an alert Austrian backline.
Hegeberg is a world-class talent, but she is not her team's only star. Barcelona attacker Caroline Graham Hansen and Chelsea winger Guro Reiten are excellent players at the peak of their careers, while Manchester City's Julie Blakstad is an exciting prospect full of promise.
Coach Sjörgen has pulled off the difficult feat of building a team that is significantly worse than the sum of its parts. Hegerberg's toothless endeavours, fizzling out harmlessly throughout their final game, were emblematic of a downright disheveled attack, which operated as though it had been explicitly instructed to stay as far away from their midfield and defenders as possible.
Despite needing a win to keep their European adventure alive, Norway failed to muster a shot on goal until the 89th minute, when substitute Celine Bizet's thunderous long-range shot was tipped over the bar by Austria's keeper.
At the back, words can do little to describe what their previous 8-0 scoreline shouted. Norway were out of their depth and embarrassed themselves. Their quarterfinal appearance in the 2019 World Cup now seems like the anomaly, not their group stage exits at EURO 2017 and 2022.
For now, they are once again focusing on recovering from disappointment.
"There has to be brutal honesty in evaluating everything that's happened in the last few weeks in order to actually bounce back from this," Hegerberg said.
Few could have expected Hegerberg's return to go as wrong as it did. If they are to bounce back this time, Norway will need a complete overhaul. The risk otherwise is that Hegerberg's talent, and that of her teammates, further goes to waste.
Edited by Tom Gennoy