Women’s Euro 2022: ‘Nervous’ Northern Ireland lose tournament debut to Norway

Nerves got the better of Northern Ireland Women in their 4-1 defeat to Norway on Thursday night, but they can still take pride from their major tournament debut.

That is the opinion of manager Kenny Shiels and defender Julie Nelson, who made history as her country’s first goal scorer at a major tournament.

Norway were always the favourites to win at St. Mary’s Stadium and they raced into an early lead, with goals from Julie Blakstad and Frida Maanum after just 13 minutes, before Caroline Graham Hansen’s penalty, awarded by VAR for handball, put them 3-0 up before the break.

However, as the game wore on, Northern Ireland grew in confidence and Nelson’s header just after the restart gave them hope of an improbable comeback.

But it was not to be, as just minutes later Guro Reiten’s low free-kick ensured a comfortable victory for Euro 2022’s dark horses.

‘We were a little nervy in the first 15-20 minutes, our first experience of a major tournament,’ Nelson told BBC Sport.

‘We knew it was going to be a difficult task. We restricted them to not many chances in the second half and made ourselves hard to beat. That is what we need to do.

‘It felt like a home game. We’re disappointed with the result and the manner in which we conceded. We can take heart from the performance after that.

‘I definitely did not think it would be me on the scoresheet, but it is an incredible feeling to score Northern Ireland’s first goal in a major tournament. As a defender, you don’t expect to score the first goal. I had to do a double-take to check it had gone in.’

Northern Ireland were not expected to get out of Group A, which also contains hosts England and Austria, but Shiels reiterated that this is all part of the process of improving the national team