Latest news with #AdaHegerberg
Washington Post
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Euro 2025: Norway's female soccer leaders blaze a trail for equality and progress
GENEVA — In the male-dominated world of soccer leadership, many of the trailblazing women have come from Norway. The Norway team at the Women's European Championship is captained by the first Women's Ballon d'Or winner, Ada Hegerberg , and led by a female federation president, Lise Klaveness, who is one of just three such leaders among the 55 UEFA member countries.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Euro 2025: Norway's female soccer leaders blaze a trail for equality and progress
FILE - Norway's Lise Klaveness, left celebrates after scoring against Ghana during a Group C match for the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer tournament held in Hangzhou, eastern China's Zhejiang province, Thursday, Sept 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) FILE - Norway's Ada Hegerberg runs with the ball during the Women's World Cup soccer match between New Zealand and Norway in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday, July 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Cornaga, File) FILE - Norwegian federation president Lise Klaveness speaks during the FIFA congress at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Doha, Qatar, on March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File) FILE Chairwoman UEFA Women's Football Committee Karen Espelund, of Norway, looks on during the drawing of the matches for the 2017-19 European Qualifying Competition for the Women's Soccer World Cup at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) FILE Chairwoman UEFA Women's Football Committee Karen Espelund, of Norway, looks on during the drawing of the matches for the 2017-19 European Qualifying Competition for the Women's Soccer World Cup at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) FILE - Norway's Lise Klaveness, left celebrates after scoring against Ghana during a Group C match for the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer tournament held in Hangzhou, eastern China's Zhejiang province, Thursday, Sept 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) FILE - Norway's Ada Hegerberg runs with the ball during the Women's World Cup soccer match between New Zealand and Norway in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday, July 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Cornaga, File) FILE - Norwegian federation president Lise Klaveness speaks during the FIFA congress at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Doha, Qatar, on March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File) FILE Chairwoman UEFA Women's Football Committee Karen Espelund, of Norway, looks on during the drawing of the matches for the 2017-19 European Qualifying Competition for the Women's Soccer World Cup at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) GENEVA (AP) — In the male-dominated world of soccer leadership, many of the trailblazing women have come from Norway. The Norway team at the Women's European Championship is captained by the first Women's Ballon d'Or winner, Ada Hegerberg, and led by a female federation president, Lise Klaveness, who is one of just three such leaders among the 55 UEFA member countries. Advertisement Klaveness, who played for Norway's team that was runner-up at Euro 2005, sees a decades-long tradition of the federation being progressive, promoting women and speaking out at international meetings. Before her, there was Karen Espelund, the first woman to join UEFA's executive committee, and Ellen Wille, whose speech at a FIFA congress helped create the Women's World Cup. They all worked with Per Omdal, a long-time federation president who in 2022 was awarded one of Norway's highest civic honors to recognize his support for women's soccer. 'We are not perfect at all,' Klaveness told The Associated Press in a recent interview. 'Of course everything can be better, but I feel like I inherited something proud and value-based.' Advertisement Captain Ada The captain of Norway's team at Euro 2025 in Switzerland — her squad will play in a group with the host, Finland and Iceland — fits perfectly into the national tradition. Hegerberg is a talented pioneer, winner of the first Ballon d'Or for women in 2018, and unafraid to have principles. The Lyon forward won the award in the second season of a five-year, self-imposed absence from the national team to protest a lack of equality for women from the federation. Even the award ceremony gave an unwanted opportunity for Hegerberg to show strong character and earn more admiration. Collecting the trophy on stage in Paris, she quickly shut down a French DJ's provocative comment about the sexualized dance twerking. Advertisement In 2022, within weeks of Klaveness being elected, Hegerberg ended her exile. 'Ada already now sees she's part of something bigger … the connection in history,' Klaveness told the AP, describing the captain as 'a very beloved player.' World Cup origin story Hegerberg's exile meant missing the 2019 World Cup in France, the eighth edition of a tournament FIFA's all-male leadership finally launched in 1991. Wille's words at FIFA's annual meeting in 1986 were key to that progress. A member of the Norwegian federation's executive committee, her speech urging FIFA to do more for women's tournaments was a rare female contribution to any debate at its congress. Advertisement Norway lost that first World Cup final to the United States but won the next title in 1995. UEFA pioneer At age 15 in 1976, Espelund was in the first wave of players when the Norwegian federation formally recognized women's soccer. She later played for the national team. In 2002, at a volatile FIFA congress, Espelund was a rare women in a leadership role as the federation's general secretary alongside president Omdal. Espelund took the platform to challenge FIFA's embattled then-president Sepp Blatter about its fragile finances ahead of him winning re-election. In 2011, with FIFA again in turmoil amid another controversial Blatter election and promises of governance reform, Espelund was appointed the first woman on the UEFA executive committee which she served for five years. Klaveness became the fourth in April. Advertisement Inspiring role model Klaveness, a labor lawyer and judge, made an international impact in her first month as Norwegian federation president. At FIFA's congress in Qatar on the eve of the 2022 World Cup tournament draw Klaveness was alone in drawing attention to the host nation's treatment of migrant workers and criminalization of homosexual acts, and soccer's responsibility to acknowledge the issues. She later pushed the case at the Council of Europe for migrant workers' families to be compensated. Klaveness describes Omdal, a former UEFA vice president, as 'still my mentor' whom she sees each week. 'He really fought for a women's league in Norway and (to) have 50% (representation) on boards.' Advertisement Now Klaveness is herself a role model for women in European soccer, including Norway's coach at Euro 2025, Gemma Grainger. 'I feel like Lise is a great example for me and for any female, to really stand by what she says,' Grainger told the AP. 'For her to stand up and talk so openly and fight for more than football is a true inspiration.' ___ AP soccer:
Associated Press
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Euro 2025: Norway's female soccer leaders blaze a trail for equality and progress
GENEVA (AP) — In the male-dominated world of soccer leadership, many of the trailblazing women have come from Norway. The Norway team at the Women's European Championship is captained by the first Women's Ballon d'Or winner, Ada Hegerberg, and led by a female federation president, Lise Klaveness, who is one of just three such leaders among the 55 UEFA member countries. Klaveness, who played for Norway's team that was runner-up at Euro 2005, sees a decades-long tradition of the federation being progressive, promoting women and speaking out at international meetings. Before her, there was Karen Espelund, the first woman to join UEFA's executive committee, and Ellen Wille, whose speech at a FIFA congress helped create the Women's World Cup. They all worked with Per Omdal, a long-time federation president who in 2022 was awarded one of Norway's highest civic honors to recognize his support for women's soccer. 'We are not perfect at all,' Klaveness told The Associated Press in a recent interview. 'Of course everything can be better, but I feel like I inherited something proud and value-based.' Captain Ada The captain of Norway's team at Euro 2025 in Switzerland — her squad will play in a group with the host, Finland and Iceland — fits perfectly into the national tradition. Hegerberg is a talented pioneer, winner of the first Ballon d'Or for women in 2018, and unafraid to have principles. The Lyon forward won the award in the second season of a five-year, self-imposed absence from the national team to protest a lack of equality for women from the federation. Even the award ceremony gave an unwanted opportunity for Hegerberg to show strong character and earn more admiration. Collecting the trophy on stage in Paris, she quickly shut down a French DJ's provocative comment about the sexualized dance twerking. In 2022, within weeks of Klaveness being elected, Hegerberg ended her exile. 'Ada already now sees she's part of something bigger … the connection in history,' Klaveness told the AP, describing the captain as 'a very beloved player.' World Cup origin story Hegerberg's exile meant missing the 2019 World Cup in France, the eighth edition of a tournament FIFA's all-male leadership finally launched in 1991. Wille's words at FIFA's annual meeting in 1986 were key to that progress. A member of the Norwegian federation's executive committee, her speech urging FIFA to do more for women's tournaments was a rare female contribution to any debate at its congress. Norway lost that first World Cup final to the United States but won the next title in 1995. UEFA pioneer At age 15 in 1976, Espelund was in the first wave of players when the Norwegian federation formally recognized women's soccer. She later played for the national team. In 2002, at a volatile FIFA congress, Espelund was a rare women in a leadership role as the federation's general secretary alongside president Omdal. Espelund took the platform to challenge FIFA's embattled then-president Sepp Blatter about its fragile finances ahead of him winning re-election. In 2011, with FIFA again in turmoil amid another controversial Blatter election and promises of governance reform, Espelund was appointed the first woman on the UEFA executive committee which she served for five years. Klaveness became the fourth in April. Inspiring role model Klaveness, a labor lawyer and judge, made an international impact in her first month as Norwegian federation president. At FIFA's congress in Qatar on the eve of the 2022 World Cup tournament draw Klaveness was alone in drawing attention to the host nation's treatment of migrant workers and criminalization of homosexual acts, and soccer's responsibility to acknowledge the issues. She later pushed the case at the Council of Europe for migrant workers' families to be compensated. Klaveness describes Omdal, a former UEFA vice president, as 'still my mentor' whom she sees each week. 'He really fought for a women's league in Norway and (to) have 50% (representation) on boards.' Now Klaveness is herself a role model for women in European soccer, including Norway's coach at Euro 2025, Gemma Grainger. 'I feel like Lise is a great example for me and for any female, to really stand by what she says,' Grainger told the AP. 'For her to stand up and talk so openly and fight for more than football is a true inspiration.' ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Women's Euros 2025: Guide to Group A – Hosts' hopes, Hegerberg and a long-throw weapon
It is a Nordic takeover in this intriguingly open group as Norway, Iceland and Finland join hosts Switzerland. None of these four teams made it past the group stage in the last edition of this competition in England in 2022, with only Norway even managing to win a single game. Switzerland will be hoping that this favourable group and their home advantage give them the opportunity to make it to the knockout stage of a European Championship for the first time. The favourites are… Norway are something of a fallen giant within the women's game, having reached the finals of the first four European Championships and first two World Cups. They won the Euros in 1987 and 1993, and the World Cup in 1995. However, recent tournament performances have been disappointing — their 8-0 drubbing against England at the last Euros was a particular low. Advertisement This is despite a glut of talent that includes Lyon's Ada Hegerberg, Barcelona's Caroline Graham Hansen and Chelsea's Guro Reiten. All three of those players will be 30 by the time this tournament ends, and there is a sense this generation is running out of time to truly make its mark at international level. Former Wales boss Gemma Grainger took charge of the side in January of last year, but they only won one of six matches in their qualifying group, eventually making the tournament through two-legged wins against Albania and Northern Ireland. If Norway are to top the group, it may well be that they look to some of their younger talent coming through. Celin Bizet and Elisabeth Terland, both 23, have put together impressive seasons at Manchester United, and may see this as a coming-of-age summer. The standout match will be… Switzerland vs Norway Norway and Switzerland will fancy themselves as potential group winners here and finishing top could be particularly important at Euro 2025, as the runner-up in Group A will face the winner of Group B, which holds world champions Spain. The two sides know plenty about each other, having faced off at the 2023 World Cup in a 0-0 draw that helped Switzerland top the group. Norway finished as runners-up but both sides went out in the round of 16. Advertisement They have also been competing in the same Nations League group, with Norway coming out 2-1 winners in their first match in February and following that up with a 1-0 away win on June 3. The group's galactico is… Ada Hegerberg (Norway) It has been a tough couple of years for Hegerberg, who has struggled to find regular playing time due to a range of injuries. But the fact that new manager Grainger named her as captain in March, taking over from veteran defender Maren Mjelde, shows how important Hegerberg still is to this side. The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner missed the 2017 Euros and 2019 World Cup in protest at the treatment of the women's side by the Norwegian Football Federation and struggled to make an impact in 2022 and 2023. She has not scored a goal at a major international tournament since the 2015 World Cup. At club level, it seems Lyon manager Joe Montemurro prefers 21-year-old Haiti forward Melchie Dumornay. Advertisement Although Hegerberg will turn 30 in July, there is a sense that there is surely more to come from her providing she can stay fit. The player who could make a name for themselves is… Sydney Schertenleib (Switzerland) The 18-year-old Barcelona midfielder looks set to be the home nation's standout star this summer after a breakout year at domestic and international level. Recruited by the Catalan club via an Instagram message, she made her debut for Switzerland in February last year, barely a month after turning 17. She has been capped 12 times, scoring twice, while she made eight league starts for Barcelona during 2024-25, no mean feat for a teenager competing with some of the best players in the world. Advertisement Her ability to carry the ball helps her open up space in congested areas of the pitch, and she has a maturity beyond her years when it comes to the technical aspects of the game. A story to look out for Pia Sundhage is the one manager at this European Championship who has actually won it as a player. The Switzerland coach has a lengthy and impressive coaching CV that includes winning two Olympic gold medals with the United States, as well as time managing Sweden and Brazil internationally. All eyes will be on whether her significant pedigree can inspire the home nation. Switzerland have only ever won one game in their two previous appearances at the Euros, but they have twice made the round of 16 at the World Cup, in 2015 and 2023. More pertinently, not since England in 2005 has a host of the competition failed to make it beyond the group stage. You might not know this Keep an eye out for Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir's long throws. The Iceland forward is known for her ability to hurl the ball into the box, which could prove crucial for her team, particularly with the aerial prowess of West Ham United's Dagny Brynjarsdottir, who is 5ft 11in (180cm). Jonsdottir appeared to have fallen out of favour with German club Wolfsburg and, with her contract expiring, it was announced last month she would be joining Angel City in the NWSL on a two-year deal. Fixtures in full July 2: Iceland vs Finland, 17:00 BST, 12:00 ET Advertisement July 2: Switzerland vs Norway, 20:00 BST, 15:00 ET July 6: Norway vs Finland, 17:00 BST, 12:00 ET July 6: Switzerland vs Iceland, 20:00 BST, 15:00 ET July 10: Finland vs Switzerland, 20:00 BST, 15:00 ET July 10: Norway vs Iceland, 20:00 BST, 15:00 ET This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Finland, Switzerland, Iceland, UK Women's Football, Women's Euros 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Women's Euros 2025: Guide to Group A – Hosts' hopes, Hegerberg and a long-throw weapon
It is a Nordic takeover in this intriguingly open group as Norway, Iceland and Finland join hosts Switzerland. None of these four teams made it past the group stage in the last edition of this competition in England in 2022, with only Norway even managing to win a single game. Switzerland will be hoping that this favourable group and their home advantage give them the opportunity to make it to the knockout stage of a European Championship for the first time. Norway are something of a fallen giant within the women's game, having reached the finals of the first four European Championships and first two World Cups. They won the Euros in 1987 and 1993, and the World Cup in 1995. However, recent tournament performances have been disappointing — their 8-0 drubbing against England at the last Euros was a particular low. Advertisement This is despite a glut of talent that includes Lyon's Ada Hegerberg, Barcelona's Caroline Graham Hansen and Chelsea's Guro Reiten. All three of those players will be 30 by the time this tournament ends, and there is a sense this generation is running out of time to truly make its mark at international level. Former Wales boss Gemma Grainger took charge of the side in January of last year, but they only won one of six matches in their qualifying group, eventually making the tournament through two-legged wins against Albania and Northern Ireland. If Norway are to top the group, it may well be that they look to some of their younger talent coming through. Celin Bizet and Elisabeth Terland, both 23, have put together impressive seasons at Manchester United, and may see this as a coming-of-age summer. Switzerland vs Norway Norway and Switzerland will fancy themselves as potential group winners here and finishing top could be particularly important at Euro 2025, as the runner-up in Group A will face the winner of Group B, which holds world champions Spain. The two sides know plenty about each other, having faced off at the 2023 World Cup in a 0-0 draw that helped Switzerland top the group. Norway finished as runners-up but both sides went out in the round of 16. They have also been competing in the same Nations League group, with Norway coming out 2-1 winners in their first match in February and following that up with a 1-0 away win on June 3. Ada Hegerberg (Norway) It has been a tough couple of years for Hegerberg, who has struggled to find regular playing time due to a range of injuries. But the fact that new manager Grainger named her as captain in March, taking over from veteran defender Maren Mjelde, shows how important Hegerberg still is to this side. The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner missed the 2017 Euros and 2019 World Cup in protest at the treatment of the women's side by the Norwegian Football Federation and struggled to make an impact in 2022 and 2023. She has not scored a goal at a major international tournament since the 2015 World Cup. At club level, it seems Lyon manager Joe Montemurro prefers 21-year-old Haiti forward Melchie Dumornay. Although Hegerberg will turn 30 in July, there is a sense that there is surely more to come from her providing she can stay fit. Sydney Schertenleib (Switzerland) The 18-year-old Barcelona midfielder looks set to be the home nation's standout star this summer after a breakout year at domestic and international level. Recruited by the Catalan club via an Instagram message, she made her debut for Switzerland in February last year, barely a month after turning 17. She has been capped 12 times, scoring twice, while she made eight league starts for Barcelona during 2024-25, no mean feat for a teenager competing with some of the best players in the world. Her ability to carry the ball helps her open up space in congested areas of the pitch, and she has a maturity beyond her years when it comes to the technical aspects of the game. Pia Sundhage is the one manager at this European Championship who has actually won it as a player. The Switzerland coach has a lengthy and impressive coaching CV that includes winning two Olympic gold medals with the United States, as well as time managing Sweden and Brazil internationally. All eyes will be on whether her significant pedigree can inspire the home nation. Switzerland have only ever won one game in their two previous appearances at the Euros, but they have twice made the round of 16 at the World Cup, in 2015 and 2023. More pertinently, not since England in 2005 has a host of the competition failed to make it beyond the group stage. Keep an eye out for Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir's long throws. The Iceland forward is known for her ability to hurl the ball into the box, which could prove crucial for her team, particularly with the aerial prowess of West Ham United's Dagny Brynjarsdottir, who is 5ft 11in (180cm). Possibly the longest throw I've ever seen from Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir @footballiceland — Lucas Arnold (@FotboltiLucas) June 16, 2021 Jonsdottir appeared to have fallen out of favour with German club Wolfsburg and, with her contract expiring, it was announced last month she would be joining Angel City in the NWSL on a two-year deal. (Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
