Norwegian hopes rise as Hegerberg returns to national duty

STOCKHOLM : Norwegian soccer breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday as Ada Hegerberg ended a self-imposed hiatus of almost five years from the national team in time for Euro 2022 after a long process of reconciliation and major changes in the game.

Chief among them is the recent election of lawyer and former international player Lise Klaveness as the first female president of the Norwegian Football Association (NFF), who set the ball rolling for Hegerberg's return.

"She has had some contact with Ada for quite a long time, and when Ada showed a little more interest in maybe coming back and playing for the team again, some more people got involved," Norway coach Martin Sjoegren told Reuters.

"I was among them, as were our team captains. It's been something of a long process, but it has moved a lot quicker when we felt this mutual desire, that Ada wanted to come back, and as team coach you always want your best players."

Hegerberg was named in Sjoegren's squad for World Cup qualifiers against Kosovo and Poland, and her return will boost the Euro chances of a country that was once a superpower in the women's game.

The 26-year-old Hegerberg quit the national team after a dire Euro 2017 campaign when the Norwegians were eliminated at the group stage, with no points and no goals scored.

Sjoegren took over the team in December 2016 and leading striker Hegerberg criticised him for not playing to her strengths before laying in to the NFF over differences in treatment of the men's and women's national teams.

Winner of the Ballon d'Or in 2018, Hegerberg missed the 2019 World Cup in France, where Norway lost to England in the quarter-finals, and she suffered a serious knee injury in January, 2020.

Norwegian soccer fans will now look