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Norway
Norway Come From Behind To Edge Ferns For Third
by Jeremy Ruane
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-finalists Norway came from behind to edge out the Football Ferns 2-1 and claim third place in the Algarve Cup at the Estadio Algarve on March 10.
Winners of the trophy a year ago, the Norwegians came out all guns blazing in the opening ten minutes, and it was as much as the Football Ferns could do just to keep them at bay throughout that opening stanza.
Indeed, a mere 65 seconds into the contest, a vital block by Rebekah Stott on the goal area prevented Karina Saevik from opening the scoring after she had been picked out by the wily Guro Reiten, who was responsible for some of the best passes in the match.
It seemed a goal was an inevitability, and sure enough, the deadlock was broken in the tenth minute - by the Football Ferns. With their first attack, captain Ali Riley set forth on a swashbuckling surge deep into Norway's half before delivering an angled pass which allowed Hannah Wilkinson to pierce the offside trap and, from eight yards, score her first goal for her country in three years.
Stunned, Norway very nearly conceded a second goal two minutes later. Again, Riley was the architect - she's led by example throughout this tournament - of the opening, her whipped cross being met by Wilkinson's bullet header which Norwegian 'keeper Cecilie Fiskerstrand did well to parry, Maria Thorisdottir stepping in to clear the loose ball as Betsy Hassett looked to pounce on the rebound.
It didn't take long for Norway to level the scores. Just four minutes after Wilkinson had opened the scoring, Synne Jensen replied in kind for the nation which won the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Reiten's vision was key to the goal, and allied to her inch-perfect pass, allowed Jensen to surge past Claudia Bunge as she tore through the inside left channel before battering a low drive past Erin Nayler and in off the base of the near post - 1-1.
That goal restored the Norwegians' confidence, and with Reiten directing traffic, ably assisted by Ingrid Engen, they took charge of proceedings, with the Football Ferns relying on Catherine Bott's enterprising right flank raids - she had a fine game - in an effort to release the pressure being exerted by their opponents.
In the 27th minute, Engen's through ball was poorly controlled by Saevik, allowing Meikayla Moore to step in and shepherd the ball back for Nayler to clear. The 'keeper hesitated, however, and nearly paid the price for doing so as her clearance was charged down by Saevik. One mightily relieved goalkeeper was well pleased to see Moore spare her blushes with the resulting clearance.
On the half-hour, Nayler made amends for that blemish by producing a vital block to deny Caroline Graham Hansen, who was the beneficiary of the combined work of Engen and Reiten.
A rare Football Ferns foray forward four minutes later saw Ria Percival, on the occasion of her 150th cap for New Zealand - no Kiwi has won more - delivering a free-kick onto the head of Wilkinson, who was foiled in her bid to head home by Fiskerstrand's timely intervention, the 'keeper punching clear off the striker's head. Stott was unable to capitalise on the loose blall.
Cue more Norwegian pressure, and two minutes before half-time they produced a super move which deserved better reward. Hansen, Ingrid Moe Wold and Engen probed for an opening, with the last-mentioned switching play to Reiten.
Her sumptuous pass sent Jensen scurrying through the inside left channel, from where she pulled the ball back into the stride of Saevik. From ten yards, she directed a ten yard snapshot on the turn over the bar, the last act of note in the first half.
As was the case in the first half, the Norwegians were hot on attack from the off, but it was the Football Ferns who were first to threaten. Riley cut in off the left before delivering a delicious cross on the run which was perfectly weighted to arrive on Wilkinson's head.
Sadly for the Football Ferns, she opted for a delicate glancing header which directed the ball wide of the far post, when an aggressive attempt would have at least forced a save from Fiskerstrand. A chance spurned.
Only some top class defending by Thorisdottir prevented Wilkinson from making further progress on the edge of the penalty area soon afterwards, to which Norway responded with a 54th minute counter-attack, led by Hansen's menacing run in off the right flank.
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The one-two she worked with Saevik saw Moore and Riley get in a tangle as both strived to clear the danger, allowing Hansen to get in a shot. Moore recovered at the expense of a corner, with Reiten's delivery hitting the outside of the post.
Back came the Football Ferns, the lively nature of the half continuing as Wilkinson flicked on Nayler's goal kick in the 57th minute, an action which invited Hassett to race forward.
She did, then fed a measured pass into the stride of Olivia Chance, whose desire to let the ball run onto her favoured left foot proved critical, as it allowed Norwegian captain Maren Mjelde to step in and avert the danger.
The Oceania champions weren't done with, however. A mere sixty seconds later, Moore picked out Wilkinson with an angled ball forward. Her lay-off was just too far in front of both Chance and the full-of-running Katie Bowen to capitalise upon, but a wayward clearance from this threat saw the Norwegians concede a corner.
Percival's delivery was right in the zone, and resulted in the shots of both Stott and Bowen being blocked by desperate Norwegian defending. When Bowen threatened again in the 64th minute, upon receipt of a pass from Chance, she delivered a measured cross to the near post which both Hassett and Chance converged upon but failed to exploit.
By this time, Norway had introduced their first substitutes, and with her first touch, Elise Thorsnes laid off Wold's cross into the stride of Hansen, who was only inches away from finding the net with a curling effort from the edge of the area.
Hansen threatened again in the 69th minute, this time from a Reiten corner. Nayler punched the ball off her head, then grabbed the ball as Saevik looked to head it home. Reiten then came within inches of breaking the deadlock, just failing to get on the end of an Engen cross to the far post after Thorsnes had brought the midfielder into play.
Another Reiten corner ten minutes from time found Mjelde enjoying plenty of space on the far post, but she was swiftly closed own by Percival, who, three minutes later, set off on a rampaging run from deep which took her deep into Norwegian territory, only to have her pocket picked by Mjelde as she looked to carve out a famous winning goal on this most auspicious of occasions.
With six minutes remaining, Hansen got the better of Moore on the Norwegian right before delivering a deep cross to the far post. Substitute Lisa-Marie Utland was lurking with intent, and guided her header inside for Reiten, striding onto it at a great rate of knots. Stott threw herself at the ball and brilliantly stopped a certain goal.
Cue a response from the Football Ferns, with substitutes Annalie Longo and Rosie White combining to good effect, the latter's shot on the turn sizzling inches over the bar, while another effort, a scorching twenty yarder in stoppage time, careered narrowly past the far post after Bott and Longo had teamed up on the right.
Another tantalising cross from Longo, intended for Bowen, was grabbed by Fiskerstrand in the shadows of the full-time whistle, but the Football Ferns, by now, were chasing the game, after Norway scored what proved to be the winner four minutes from time.
Sadly, it was one of the Kiwis' most consistent performers in recent times whose rare error proved costly on this occasion. Stott cut out a cross and proceeded to bring the ball out of defence, only to gift possession via a poor touch on the edge of the area to Hansen.
She didn't hesitate to exploit her good fortune, sweeping past two opponents before thundering a fifteen-yarder past Nayler's despairing dive and into the back of the net to clinch a third-placed finish for the Norwegians, who've won the trophy five times.
Their successors in 2020 are Germany and Italy, who share the trophy after the final was cancelled due to Coronavirus-related issues. It's the second time in three years that the final has been abandoned, with adverse weather conditions cancelling the 2018 final between Holland and Sweden.
Norway: Fiskerstrand; Wold, Mjelde, Thorisdottir, Maanum (Boe Risa, 61); Hansen, Reiten, Engen, Minde; Jensen (Thorsnes, 61), Saevik (Utland, 70 (booked, 81))
F'ball Ferns: Nayler; Bunge, Stott, Moore; Bott, Bowen, Percival, Riley; Hassett (booked, 76) (Longo, 81), Wilkinson (Satchell, 81), Chance (White, 75)
Referee: Francia Gonzalez (Mexico)
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