Ada Hegerberg named in Norway’s Euro 2022 squad
Ada Hegerberg is set to play in her first major international tournament in five years after she was named in Norway’s squad for Euro 2022.
The Lyon forward quit the national team in 2017 in protest of a perceived lack of respect for female players.
Hegerberg, who scored in Lyon’s Women’s Champions League final win over Barcelona, returned in April.
In her first game back for Norway, she scored a hat-track in a World Cup qualifier against Kosovo.
Hegerberg is part of a 23-player squad, which includes seven Women’s Super League players, for the tournament in England in July.
She has won six Women’s Champions League titles, seven Division 1 Feminine titles, the French Cup five times and the Norwegian Women’s Cup.
Hegerberg was named Uefa’s Best Women’s Player in Europe in 2016, won the inaugural Women’s Ballon d’Or in 2018 and was named BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year in 2017 and 2019.
She returned to club action in the autumn after 20 months out because of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
Chelsea defender Maren Mjelde will captain Norway with club team-mate Guro Reiten also in the squad. The WSL champions line up alongside Manchester United’s Maria Thorisdottir and Vilde Boe Risa.
They are joined by Reading’s Amalie Eikeland, Arsenal’s Frida Maanum and Manchester City’s Julie Blakstad.
Mjelde is returning following an ACL injury this season and Norway manager Martin Sjogren said: “She and we will do everything we can to get her ready to play the matches both before and during the championship. We hope and believe that she will be ready.”
Norway are in Group A alongside hosts England, Northern Ireland and Austria with their first game on 7 July against Northern Ireland.
Full Norway squad:
Guro Pettersen, Sunniva Skoglund, Aurora Mikalsen, Tuva Hansen, Maren Mjelde, Anja Sonstevold, Anna Langas Josendal, Julie Blakstad, Maria Thorisdottir, Synne Skinnes Hansen, Guro Bergsvand, Vilde Boe Risa, Amalie Eikeland, Ingrid Syrstad Engen, Frida Maanum, Lisa Naalsund, Karina Saevik, Guro Reiten, Elisabeth Turland, Sophie Roman Haug, Celin Bizet Ildhusoy, Caroline Graham Hansen and Ada Hegerberg.
BBC/Mercy Chukwudiebere
