Graham Hansen critical of Riise as Norway’s World Cup hopes fade

Graham Hansen: “I feel I have been stepped on for a year”

Norway’s World Cup is rapidly spinning towards becoming a debacle.

The favorites in Group A suffered a stunning loss in the tournament’s first game to New Zealand, a result compounded by a flat, mystifyingly conservative performance.

Head coach Hege Riise then shocked most observers by announcing that she would be dropping Barcelona duo Caroline Graham Hansen and Ingrid Engen for their second match against Switzerland.

Norway would go on to register a scoreless draw against the Swiss, a result that only just barely kept the Gresshoppene alive in a group they were expected to stroll through.

Graham Hansen and Engen would both figure into the match as substitutes, but after the game, it sounded like that choice went down like a lead balloon.

“It’s tough. I don’t know what I can say,” Graham Hansen told broadcaster ViaPlay at full time. “There’s not much I can say, I feel like I’m standing here with my hands tied.”

“I feel I have been stepped on for a year. People talk all the time about standing together as a team and a nation, but I feel that in the last year I’ve just accepted [this treatment],” continued Graham Hansen. “I’m not going to go into who here in the press, but perhaps you understand between the lines what is happening and where the shoe is pressing.

“It’s not like you should get anything for free in this life, but I thought I had earned a certain respect. It wasn’t like that. Maybe you have to look at yourself in the mirror and believe less about myself.”

Speaking to Norwegian broadcaster TV2, Graham Hansen added that she disagreed with the rationale Riise apparently gave for the decision.

“I do not agree with the justification, or that one is put out in that way. That’s how it is,” said Graham Hansen. “I can’t create any chaos no matter how much I want to. I don’t want to be a bitter egoist who only thinks about herself.”

Reporters asked Riise about Graham Hansen’s remarks in a post-match press conference, but the coach was not inclined to discuss them at length.

“I don’t think I should comment on that. Caro will be responsible for that. I haven’t seen it or heard it, so I can’t relate to [her comments],” said Riise. “I made an assessment of what we have been working on for a long time, ever since we arrived… These are things we will handle internally. There is a lot of frustration that we didn’t win. Caroline is entitled to be frustrated and entitled to express her option.”

Hegerberg injury more trouble for Norway

Graham Hansen’s discontent isn’t Norway’s only problem. Star striker Ada Hegerberg withdrew literally during the team’s last huddle before kicking off with an apparent groin injury.

Norway scrambled to add Sophie Román Haug to their starting lineup, with Hegerberg playing no part in the match.

The Lyon forward took to social media to say that she felt “discomfort” in a sprint after the national anthems, and that there was a collective agreement that playing would have been too great a risk.

Norway may not have been listed among the absolute favorites in Australia and New Zealand, but with Graham Hansen, Engen, Hegerberg, and Chelsea playmaker Guro Reiten, they have the talent to trouble any team on the planet.

However, this rocky start to the World Cup is coming after a disastrous Euro 2022 that saw them lose 8-0 to England and crash out in the group stage. Despite her legendary status as a player during Norway’s glory days, Riise appears to be facing a daunting task to get the team back on course.

As things stand, Norway must beat the Philippines to have a chance of escaping a group they were supposed to win handily. They’ll very likely need to do so by multiple goals as well, given that a draw or a New Zealand win in the group’s other game would leave Norway tied with either the hosts or Switzerland on four points.

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