{"id":1092877,"date":"2019-06-08T22:23:41","date_gmt":"2019-06-08T21:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1092877"},"modified":"2019-06-08T23:22:34","modified_gmt":"2019-06-08T22:22:34","slug":"norway-3-0-nigeria-world-cup-match-analysis-caroline-graham-hansen","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/norway-3-0-nigeria-world-cup-match-analysis-caroline-graham-hansen\/","title":{"rendered":"No Ada no problem: Five things learned as Norway cruise to 3-0 Women’s World Cup win over Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a brutal beatdown, Norway beat Nigeria 3-0 in Reims.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With France setting the pace in Group A with a huge 4-0 opening day win, Norway followed suit with a spectacular 3-0 demolition of the African champions. What did we learn?<\/p>\n

https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7278637-klopp-must-solve-wenger-s-dilemma-to-take-liverpool-forward<\/p>\n

1. No Ada? No Problem!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ada Hegerberg is the best player in the world. She is a footballing phenomenon. Since she joined Lyon five years ago she has won Ligue 1 five times, the Coupe de France four times and the Champions League final the last four years on the spin, scoring five goals across the four finals. She is utterly, ridiculously, impossibly good… and she’s not playing for Norway at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

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Why? Only she really knows why, but she has intimated it’s to do with the way the Norwegian women’s side are treated in terms of exposure, access to facilities and payment when compared to the men’s side.<\/p>\n

It’s a reasonable case for her to make given the the Norwegian women have won two European championships, one Olympic Gold and a World Cup. Meanwhile the best the Norwegian men have managed is the round-of-16 in the World Cup, twice. Hegerberg’s case, taking a stand over issues that concern Norway’s women but could have much wider-reaching implications for the women’s game in general, is one that demands both focus and respect.<\/p>\n

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Also notable though, is that without Hegerberg, coach Martin Sjogren appears to have constructed a really solid side. Norway showed against Nigeria that they can put out a really solid defence who, even though they allow space out wide, have the defensive power to clear any crosses that come into the box. One which has the organisation to stop counter-attacks dead in their tracks and the attacking invention to carve teams apart. Sure, they got a bit of help from a self-destructive Nigeria, but they punished their opponent’s mistakes with ruthless efficiency.<\/p>\n

2. Ebi’s errors costs Nigeria<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It’s Onome Ebi’s fifth World Cup playing for Nigeria, she made her debut all the way back in 2003 when Norway’s opening scorer Guro Reiten was just nine years old. To have achieved such longevity is a remarkable achievement and should be praised.<\/p>\n

But you have to wonder if Ebi would be better sitting the tournament out? Her leadership and experience are obviously valuable but maybe don’t have her actually on the pitch? The 36-year-old was almost literally at fault for all three of the goals Norway scored.<\/p>\n

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First she tried to block Guro Reiten’s shot with a really tame effort, causing the ball to ricochet off her into the back of the net. But hey you could have called that bad luck and got on with it. Then, however, she was waaaaay out of position and basically begged Reiten to pass through to Lisa Marie Utland who finished with devastating effect.<\/p>\n

Finally, she pushed high up the field to try and win the ball only to spoon an awful clearance into the air. The ball was played into the space she vacated and when the cross came in, poor Osinachi Ohale scored an own goal trying to cover for her veteran partner.<\/p>\n

3. Hjelmseth a rock of experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While Onome Ebi looked every one of her 36 years against Norway, Ingrid Hjelmseth instead defied her 39 years to put in a colossal performance in goal for Norway. Hjelmseth is the second oldest player at the tournament but you’d never know it from watching her.<\/p>\n

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Hjelmseth commanded her area with fearsome authority. Every time Nigeria would put dangerous crosses in it was Hjelmseth who would be quick off her line to grab or punch the ball clear. The Nigerian strikers could barely manage a header.<\/p>\n

She took so much pressure off her young defenders that you almost wonder if Norway purposefully funnelled Nigeria into wide areas knowing that Hjelmseth could deal with their crosses. This theory gets more validity when you realise the only time she showed weakness was on the deck when Asisat Oshoala was able to skip around her fairly easily.<\/p>\n