AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Expect Norway to go on attack mode with its backs against the wall when it faces the Philippines in the final group stage match of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Norway is at the bottom of the standings of Group A with just one point after a 0-1-1 win-draw-loss record heading into the game against the Filipinas on Sunday at Eden Park.
“It’s simple. We need to go out there and attack,” said Norway coach Hege Riise during the pre-match press conference on Saturday. “We are on the offensive. We want to show our better side.”
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Desperate for the win, the Gresshoppene will look to get the full three points, but will also attempt to score a lot of goals in the event that a place for the knockout phase will go down on goal difference. Norway can still end up in a tie with Switzerland or New Zealand, but Switzerland has the superior goal difference entering the match day with +2.
Norway though will be missing its prolific scorer Ada Hegerberg after getting hurt in their 0-0 draw against Switzerland last Tuesday.
Riise, though, said it has tactically prepared for the match with Hegerberg out. The coach also felt that Norway played a decent match even without Hegerberg in the match.
The Norway coach hopes that its scouting of the Philippines will translate to her team getting goals in the contest.
“We were a bit better against Switzerland and we hope to be even better tomorrow. By doing so, we need to score some goals. And how are we going to do that? It is something that we have practiced and we will see tomorrow whether we succeed or not,” said Riise.
“We have looked at what they’ve done well and try to build on that. We have looked at the offensive part of the play. We need to win. We need to score goals if we are going to proceed to the knockout stage,” said Riise.
Aside from the Hegerberg injury, Norway has also been dealing with the offshoot of the comments made about Caroline Graham Hansen being benched in the first half of the match. The Barcelona striker has since apologized for her remarks.
Riise said the issues are now water under the bridge.
“We know that things often may arise… We do handled things that happen and we handle it well. And I think we did that. That issue is now behind us. And we have a match that we want to win,” said Riise.
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