Norway and Switzerland cancelled each other out at a rain-drenched Waikato Stadium on July 25, their scoreless draw, played out in front of 10,769 fans, leaving the Swiss top of Group A after two rounds of FIFA Women's World Cup Finals action. There was pre-match drama when Norwegian superstar Ada Hegerberg headed down the tunnel immediately after the playing of the national anthems, her night done before a ball had even been kicked - a groin issue, by all accounts. It meant the latest of all possible introductions to the fray for Sophie Roman Haug, but she and her team-mates barely crossed the halfway line inside the opening ten minutes as "Die Nati" made all the early running, their only threat coming in the seventh minute when Thea Bjelde blocked a Ramona Bachmann shot after Seraina Piubel and Coumba Sow had combined to good effect. Norway gradually fought their way back into the game, and after Maren Mjelde had cut out a pass from Piubel intended for Bachmann's benefit, the "Red Flames" finally mounted a threat on goal. Guro Reiten's 22nd minute corner was headed out to Mjelde who was falling backwards as she directed a volley over the bar. Two minutes later, Swiss goalkeeper Gaelle Thalmann pulled off a super save to deny Roman Haug's effort from the edge of the goal area, after she had been picked out by Bjelde's looping cross. The tall Norwegian striker continued to provide her country's prime attacking threat, and on the half-hour she headed past the post after Mjelde had sent Emilie Haavi skipping down the left, where she evaded a challenge before delivering a tantalising cross for Roman Haug to home in on. Back came Switzerland, captain Lia Waelti combining with Ana Maria Crnogorcevic, who worked a one-two with Sow before drilling a rising fifteen yard drive narrowly over the angle of the near post and crossbar. In the 33rd minute, Bachmann and the hard-working Geraldine Reuteler combined on the left for the benefit of Nadine Riesen, whose teasing cross-shot was pawed over the bar at her near post by Aurora Mikalsen, one of the few occasions Norway's goalkeeper was called into action in this European showdown. The rain was making life challenging for all-comers throughout proceedings, the intensity of it threatening to make the underfoot conditions a tad slushy - not exactly what the footballing stars of two European nations would expect to experience at a time when they're usually basking in thirty-plus degrees and wall-to-wall summer sunshine. Welcome to our world! Norway made the better start to the second spell, Reiten and Roman Haug combining for Frida Maanum to send a shot on the turn sizzling past the post just two minutes after the resumption of play. Two minutes later, Vilde Boe Risa's corner saw Mjelde direct a downward header straight at Thalmann, who turned away a Roman Haug drive in the 55th minute after Reiten had sent Amalie Ekeland surging into the penalty area, seconds after Maanum's charging run had been halted by a superbly timed tackle from Julia Stierli. The Norwegians introduced Caroline Graham Hansen - a surprise substitute - to the fray just shy of the hour mark, but before she could make an impact, Mjelde was called into action once more,

this time to foil a slick one-two between Bachmann and Sow as the Swiss threatened for the first time in the half. In the 62nd minute, a teasing Graham Hansen cross prompted a vital clearing save by Thalmann as two Norwegian strikers moved in for the kill. This prompted a sustained response from Switzerland, during which Bachmann battered a drive past the post after a charging run through the middle past three opponents. Crnogorcevic was next to threaten, racing down the right at pace past two before delivering a cross which was headed out by Bjelde to Sow. She was closed down quickly, unlike Reuteler in the 72nd minute, her fulminating thirty yard volley giving Mikalsen more than a little cause for concern. Back came Norway, only for Thalmann to produce two fine saves in the 75th minute to keep the Swiss on level terms. She first thwarted a rasping twenty yarder from Graham Hansen, then followed that up by blocking Maanum's bid to batter home the rebound from an acute angle. Thalmann then looked on with relief after punching a Graham Hansen corner out as far as Boe Risa, who sent the sphere soaring over the bar. Her goal came under threat twice more inside the next ten minutes, from Graham Hansen free-kicks on both occasions. The second, in particular, was badly wasted, clearing the crossbar from just outside the 'D' when the kick was better suited to Reiten's set-piece prowess. Graham Hansen, having been left out of the starting line-up, clearly had an axe to grind, but putting self before team on this occasion rewarded neither party. In between times, Mathilde Harviken had thwarted Crnogorcevic's progress down the left with a terrific covering run, while after Graham Hansen's dead ball failings, Harviken intervened again to deny a Swiss attack, blocking Piubel's shot after Bachmann had charged down the left. That flank was again the target of Switzerland's attack as the game moved into stoppage time, with Crnogorcevic this time engineering an opening before crossing to the far post. Substitute Meriame Terchoun headed the ball skywards, while fellow replacement Sandrine Mauron directed the ball towards the target, but straight into the grateful gloves of Mikalsen, whose save ensured this European southern hemisphere derby would end scoreless. The result leaves Switzerland as the only team in the group in charge of their own destiny heading into the final round of matches. If they avoid defeat against the Football Ferns, they'll progress to the knockout phase of the competition. Norway, meanwhile, have to beat the Philippines if they are to have any chance of avoiding an early flight home, as this star-studded squad currently props up the table - not a situation many would have foreseen heading into the vital July 30 fixtures. Switzerland:     Thalmann; Aigbogun, Riesen, Stierli, Maritz; Sow, Waelti, Reuteler (Mauron, 78); Piubel (Terchoun, 88), Crnogorcevic, Bachmann (Rey, 90) Norway:     Mikalsen; Bjelde (Bratberg Lund, 88), Mjelde, Harviken, Hansen (Sonstevold, 73); Maanum, Boa Risa (Engen, 88), Reiten; Eikeland (Graham Hansen, 57), Roman Haug (Saevik, 73), Haavi Referee:     Stephanie Frappart (France)