I expect Norway to bring our best. I see no point in traveling halfway around the world with a squad for a friendly in preparation for the World Cup and then field a second string line-up. The Japan match comes at the tail end of our season here, after the last matchday of Toppserien, but before the NM Cup final. I don't know whether it was Norway approaching Japan or vice-versa regarding how this friendly was arranged though. In an optimal starting line-up with everybody available, how many players would Japan have from their domestic league?
Since Yokoyama recently came back to Japan, after her short stint in Germany at Frankfurt, I guess there are very few internationals in our Senior NT: Kumagai from OL and Utsugi from Seattle Reign should be lock-up (as long as the clubs release them: not a problem for Utsugi, at the moment, since NWSL season has now finished, but if the friendly isn't in a FIFA window OL could refuse to release Kumagai, as they already did in the past). Kawasumi isn't a starter these days in NT (in Seattle neither for that matter); Naomoto, who plays in Germany, is currently injured, and anyway she's not necessarily a regular. Yamane, who plays in Spain, recently lost her spot (I guess for good) as 3rd GK. Nagano, who could easily transition from U-20 to Senior Team, is the only youngster playing overseas, in South Korea, but she's not an established player yet. So, all in all, I'd say that at least 8-9 player of a typical "best 11" should come from domestic league (and I dare to say that this is the problem: there should be more Japanese players getting international experience in other leagues). How many internationals Norwegian NT has, now that Hegerberg left NT? Hansen for sure. How many players from NWSL? Who else?
There is added cultural barriers to overcome if you are from Japan though. And family far away. The sacrifice you make is a lot more than Europeans playing in other European countries. I suspect the level in the Japanese league is very good. Norway have around 12-15 players in various top leagues abroad who are either in the NT or in contention to be selected. In the NT starting line-up we're talking roughly half and half domestic/foreign based players. At the moment, Hansen and Minde (Wolfsburg), Mjelde and Thorisdottir (Chelsea) and Maanum (Linköping) seem certain starters. The rest of the spots are up for grabs. In the key match against Netherlands a month ago, these clubs were represented in the starting XI: 3 - LSK Kvinner 2 - Chelsea 2 - Wolfsburg 1 - Linköping 1 - Rosengård 1 - Stabæk 1 - Vålerenga 6 foreign based, 5 home based.
Friendly, Helsingborg Sweden vs Norway 2-1 1-0 Olivia Schough 13 2-0 Maria Thorisdottir 32 (own-goal) 2-1 Isabell Herlovsen 85 This was a game that had "friendly" written all over it. A poor first half from Norway cost too much. Too many individual defensive errors. Debutant center-back Kristine Leine in particular looked frail, but good to try her now. The second half was better. The passing was better, but still not up to required standard. The final pass was missing in most cases and big scoring chances were limited to a few. Neither Sweden or Norway can be very satisfied with their performances, but Sweden were more efficient on the day. Line-up: Ingrid Hjelmseth (63 Cecilie Fiskerstrand) - Ingrid Moe Wold (63 Synne Skinnes Hansen), Kristine Leine, Maria Thorisdottir, Kristine Minde - Frida Maanum (75 Emilie Haavi), Ingrid Engen - Caroline Hansen, Guro Reiten, Lisa-Marie Utland (63 Vilde Bøe Risa) - Isabell Herlovsen
When we follow the Norwegian game from week to week on this thread, and Toppserien in particular, the most common names mentioned are goal scorers in the round-ups. It's about time we focus on an overlooked player. Because the true break-out player this season in Norwegian woso is: Ingrid Syrstad Engen BORN: 29 April 1998 POSITION: Central midfield CLUB: LSK Kvinner Ingrid Engen came from lowly placed Trondheims-Ørn to LSK Kvinner before the 2018 season after three seasons at T/Ø. She is very easy to recognize in Toppserien with her exotic dark ponytail (in a league of blondes!) and statuesque appearance in central midfield. Her confident body language on the field indicates she is ten years older. She covers a lot of ground, is comfortable with the ball at her feet, and can outbattle most players with cunning twists and turns whilst keeping the ball under control. Norwegian woso has gone through a transition period over the last couple of years regarding midfielders. Solveig Gulbrandsen, Ingvild Stensland and Lene Mykjåland disappeared pretty much at the same time and left a big void to fill. The midfield has been a recurring problem in the Sjögren era. Ingrid Engen is ready to solve that problem. NT coach Martin Sjögren said this about her in April two months after giving her the first cap: "Ingrid has just recently joined us, but we can already see that this is an international high standard player in the making. She is going to be very, very good." Ingrid recently signed a shoe deal with Puma. As of October 2018, Engen has won 8 caps and scored two goals for Norway, one of them against Netherlands in Oslo which secured qualification to the World Cup. She made her NT debut as a sub against Australia at Algarve this year, then started her first match against China a few days later and scored in the 2-0 win. Since then, she hasn't looked back. Sjögren has given her 90 minutes in every match since - which includes five straight wins before the loss in Sweden the other day. At LSK, goal-scoring is not a natural part of her game, only one goal this season. Engen is pulling the strings in midfield instead, so Guro Reiten & company can focus on the attack. Keep an eye on Ingrid Syrstad Engen the next time you bump into an LSK or Norway match. I will be very surprised if clubs from Germany, France or England have not been in touch with her within one or two years.
Røa have been deducted one point in Toppserien due to not maintaining financial standards. Yesterday the fixture list for 2019 was released. One of the lessons learned from Euro 2017 was the short time-frame for preparation before the tournament. NFF have kept that in mind when creating the season plan. Toppserien 2019 will run from 23 March to 16 November. Main dates on the schedule: 20 Mar - UWCL QF 1st leg 23 Mar - Toppserien 1 27 Mar - UWCL QF 2nd leg 30 Mar - Toppserien 2 13 Apr - Toppserien 3 22 Apr - Toppserien 4 27 Apr - Toppserien 5 01 May - Toppserien 6 04 May - Toppserien 7 11 May - Toppserien 8 15 May - NM Cup - 2nd round 18 May - Toppserien 9 07 Jun - FIFA World Cup starts 07 Jul - FIFA World Cup ends 27 Jul - Toppserien 10 31 Jul - NM Cup - 3rd round 03 Aug - Toppserien 11 10 Aug - Toppserien 12 17 Aug - Toppserien 13 21 Aug - NM Cup - QF 24 Aug - Toppserien 14 07 Sep - Toppserien 15 14 Sep - Toppserien 16 21 Sep - Toppserien 17 28 Sep - Toppserien 18 12 Oct - Toppserien 19 19 Oct - Toppserien 20 26 Oct - NM Cup SF 02 Nov - Toppserien 21 16 Nov - Toppserien 22 23 Nov - NM Cup final
Back to club ball. It is NM Cup semi-final weekend, and games will be streamed live on NRK - supposedly without geo-block. Saturday, Oct 13: Røa vs LSK Kvinner (3:00pm) Sunday, Oct 14: Klepp vs Sandviken (3:00pm) If the live links somehow don't work, games will be available later also abroad.
Phew! We witnessed a modern day NM Cup classic earlier today, with LSK coming back from the death to reach the Final. Røa vs LSK Kvinner 3-3 a.e.t. (1-3 a.p.) 1-0 Line Holter 1 2-0 Svava Ros Gudmundsdottir 23 3-0 Rebecka Holum 46 3-1 Anja Sønstevold 49 3-2 Guro Reiten 66 3-3 Sophie Haug 85 Penalties: Goal - Guro Reiten (LSK) Miss - Line Holter (Røa) Goal - Emilie Haavi (LSK) Goal - Kristine Leine (Røa) Miss - Ingrid Syrstad Engen (LSK) Miss - Ina Skaug (Røa) Goal - Anja Sønstevold (LSK) Miss - Svava Ros Gudmundsdottir (Røa) Check out highlights Full game now available
Yes. It stopped at 24 straight wins. (Toppserien 19, NM Cup 3, and UWCL 2). What the highlight reel didn't show was the superb block by Sønstevold shortly before the end of regulation time which stopped Røa from going 4-3 up. This was a true rollercoaster game. In terms of entertainment and drama, the best of the season. Later today is the other semi-final: Klepp vs Sandviken.
Phew! There was a penalty drama also in the second semi-final today. Sandviken are through to their first NM Cup final since 1995. Klepp lost on penalties at home for the second season in a row (to Avaldsnes in the QF last year). Klepp vs Sandviken 1-1 a.e.t. (1-3 a.p.) 0-1 Ajara Njoya 30 1-1 Tameka Butt 45+1 Penalties Miss - Tatiana Matveeva (Sandviken) Miss - Zaneta Wyne (Klepp) Goal - Marije Brummel (Sandviken) Miss - Tameka Butt (Klepp) Goal - Ajara Njoya (Sandviken) Goal - Kirsty Yallop (Klepp) Miss - Amanda Perez (Sandviken) Miss - McKenzie Berryhill (Klepp) Goal - Ingrid Spord (Sandviken) Check out highlights Full game Sandviken will play LSK Kvinner in the NM Cup final on December 1st in Telenor Arena. # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # There was also one postponed match in Toppserien this weekend. Vålerenga vs Avaldsnes 2-1 0-1 Luana Bertolucci 24 1-1 Marte Berget 37 2-1 Isabell Herlovsen 47
An international round-up again: SWEDEN June Pedersen and Andrea Norheim are one step closer to winning Damallsvenskan with Piteå, now three points ahead of Rosengård with two matchdays to go. Yesterday Piteå beat lowly Kalmar away 2-1. Norheim scored one goal and assisted the other. Lisa-Marie Utland started for Rosengård yesterday and scored one goal in the 5-1 win against Hammarby. Big match coming up next at home against Piteå. Frida Maanum and Linköping, currently in fifth place, lost 1-0 at home to Eskilstuna and are too far behind to battle for European spots now. Linköping are rebuilding for next season to come back stronger. Rehabbing full-back Ingrid Ryland was an unused sub when her club Djurgården won 2-0 at home against Vittsjö. Djurgården are in 8th place. GERMANY Wolfsburg with Caroline Hansen and Kristine Minde beat Werder Bremen 3-0 away. Minde scored her first two goals in the Bundesliga and Caro had one assist as Die Wölfinnen keep their 100% win record going after four games. FRANCE Lyon and Ada Hegerberg beat Montpellier 2-1 at home without Ada on the score-sheet. Sister Andrine Hegerberg came on as a late sub when PSG beat Metz 3-1 away. Lyon lead with 18 pts in front of PSG (16 pts) after 6 rounds. Ada remains top scorer in D1F on 6 goals. ENGLAND Maren Mjelde is currently injured and didn't feature in Chelsea's embarrassing 5-0 loss at home to Arsenal. Maria Thorisdottir played all 90 mins. Chelsea are now in fifth place six points behind leaders Arsenal.
Matchday 20 of Toppserien. LSK lost at home to Klepp who secured second place in Toppserien, equalling their best performance since 1988. This was LSK's first defeat in 2018 in all competitions. Worrying trend for them now. A cup semi-final going to penalties, a 1-1 draw against Brøndby and now this loss against Klepp means LSK haven't won in three games. At the other end of the table it's been on the cards for weeks, but Grand Bodø are now officially relegated. And Trondheims-Ørn inaugurated their new stadium with a 3-1 loss against Vålerenga. Lyn vs Stabæk 2-3 1-0 Jenny Olsen 2 1-1 Melissa Bjånesøy 3 1-2 Melissa Bjånesøy 44 2-2 Vilde Hasund 46 2-3 Melissa Bjånesøy 73 Avaldsnes vs Sandviken 0-0 Arna Bjørnar vs Røa 2-0 1-0 Maria Brochmann 36 2-0 Vilde Bøe Risa 63 Trondheims-Ørn vs Vålerenga 1-3 1-0 Elin Sørum 38 1-1 Sherida Spitse 43 1-2 Marte Berget 47 1-3 Marie Dølvik Markussen 51 LSK Kvinner vs Klepp 2-3 0-1 Elisabeth Terland 7 1-1 Ingrid Kvernvolden 42 2-1 Guro Reiten 45 2-2 Tameka Butt 52 2-3 Kirsty Yallop 67 Kolbotn vs Grand Bodø 3-2 1-0 Eline Hegg 3 1-1 Stephanie Ribeiro 27 1-2 Stephanie Ribeiro 43 2-2 Julie Hoff Klæboe 45 3-2 Marit Bratberg Lund 88 TOP SCORERS 19 - Guro Reiten (LSK Kvinner) 14 - Maria Brochmann (Arna Bjørnar) 14 - Ajara Njoya (Sandviken) 13 - Sophie Haug (LSK Kvinner) 12 - Svava Ros Gudmundsdottir (Røa) 10 - Hege Hansen (Klepp) 9 - Karina Sævik (Kolbotn) 9 - Ingrid Kvernvolden (LSK Kvinner) 9 - Linn Huseby (Lyn) 9 - Melissa Bjånesøy (Stabæk) 9 - Sherida Spitse (Vålerenga) 8 - Amalie Eikeland (Arna Bjørnar) 8 - Emilie Nautnes (Arna Bjørnar) 8 - Tameka Butt (Klepp) 8 - Andrea Wilmann (Stabæk) 8 - Julie Adserø (Trondheims-Ørn) NEXT MATCHDAY 27 Oct: Vålerenga vs Arna Bjørnar 27 Oct: Klepp vs Avaldsnes 27 Oct: Sandviken vs LSK Kvinner 27 Oct: Røa vs Trondheims-Ørn 27 Oct: Grand Bodø vs Lyn 27 Oct: Stabæk vs Kolbotn
Martin Sjögren has announced his squad for the friendly against Japan in Tottori, 11 November: Goalkeepers Ingrid Hjelmseth ................ 1980 ..... Stabæk Cecilie Fiskerstrand .......... 1996 ..... LSK Kvinner Nora Gjøen ........................ 1992 ..... Sandviken Defenders Ingrid Moe Wold .................1990 ..... LSK Kvinner Maria Thorisdottir ............. 1993 ..... Chelsea (ENG) Kristine Leine .................... 1996 ..... Røa Kristine Minde ................... 1992 ..... Wolfsburg (GER) Ingrid Ryland ..................... 1989 ..... Djurgården (SWE) Stine Hovland .................... 1991 ..... Sandviken Midfielders Guro Reiten ...................... 1994 ..... LSK Kvinner Vilde Bøe Risa .................. 1995 ..... Arna Bjørnar Frida Maanum .................. 1999 ..... Linköping (SWE) Ingrid Engen ..................... 1998 ..... LSK Kvinner Therese Åsland ................ 1995 ..... Røa Forwards Synne Skinnes Hansen ...... 1995 ..... LSK Kvinner Lisa-Marie Utland ............... 1992 ..... Rosengård (SWE) Emilie Haavi ...................... 1992 ..... LSK Kvinner Caroline G. Hansen ........... 1995 ..... Wolfsburg (GER) Isabell Herlovsen ............... 1988 ..... Vålerenga Emilie Nautnes .................. 1999 ..... Arna Bjørnar Melissa Bjånesøy .............. 1992 ..... Stabæk Certainly a selection for late bloomers. Sandviken captain Stine Hovland is called up for the first time at the age of 27. Goalkeeper Nora Gjøen is back again for the first time in nearly five years! I guess Sjögren was impressed by her performance in the penalty shoot-out in the NM Cup recently. @59Amerinorsk will be pleased to see Melissa Bjånesøy back in the NT squad for the first time since May 2015. Maren Mjelde and Elise Thorsnes are not selected due to injuries.
This is Japan's roster for the match: Considering it's 28 names (!) for just one friendly match, I assume the focus will be on the whole training camp more than on the match itself, since just a little part of these players will actually see the pitch. There are four U-20 World Champions in the roster: Minami, Nagano, Miyazawa and Endo. Everyone would have expected to see also Riko Ueki among these U-20 players, but she just picked up an injury. Not sure what kind of team Takakura will deploy, but she basically has all of the players available that she had called in the last year or such, youngsters and veterans alike (the only long-term injured player that's missing is Mizuho Sakaguchi; the Sakaguchi that's in the roster is a different player, Moeno Sakaguchi) and most of the internationals (Kawasumi and Utsugi from USA, Kumagai from France, Naomoto from Germany: GK Yamane, playing in Spain, was basically cut months ago, while Nagasato, who recently transferred from USA to Australia, keeps being a big question mark; will she ever come back to NT?).
Yippee! Look who is being given another chance to play for Norway in upcoming friendly against Japan! Source: NFF website. Trivia: Melissa was born in Chicago.
Bjånesøy is one of two foreign born players in the squad. Isabell Herlovsen was born in Mönchengladbach, Germany when her father played there in the 1980s. Other foreign connections.. Maria Thorisdottir has an Icelandic father, but is born in Norway. Emilie Haavi has a grandfather from Switzerland.
Matchday 21 of Toppserien, the penultimate round. Lyn managed to lose against Grand Bodø which means they will need to go through relegation play-off matches to stay up. The opponents are not yet known. Another draw for LSK Kvinner. This time goalkeeper Fiskerstrand was their best player and Sandviken unlucky not to win. LSK are currently in their worst spell for years and that's not good when they play their most important match ever on Wednesday against Brøndby. Vålerenga vs Arna Bjørnar 1-1 0-1 Amalie Eikeland 66 1-1 Stine Pedersen 90 Klepp vs Avaldsnes 2-1 0-1 Meryll Abrahamsen 43 1-1 Elisabeth Terland 53 2-1 Hanne Kogstad 65 Sandviken vs LSK Kvinner 0-0 Røa vs Trondheims-Ørn 2-1 1-0 Svava Ros Gudmundsdottir 3 1-1 Julie Adserø 45 2-1 Svava Ros Gudmundsdottir 72 Stabæk vs Kolbotn 1-2 0-1 Marit Bratberg Lund 36 (pen) 1-1 Synne Jensen 61 1-2 Marit Bratberg Lund 86 Grand Bodø vs Lyn 1-0 1-0 Vilde Fjelldal 42 TOP SCORERS 19 - Guro Reiten (LSK Kvinner) 14 - Maria Brochmann (Arna Bjørnar) 14 - Svava Ros Gudmundsdottir (Røa) 14 - Ajara Njoya (Sandviken) 13 - Sophie Haug (LSK Kvinner) 10 - Hege Hansen (Klepp) 9 - Amalie Eikeland (Arna Bjørnar) 9 - Karina Sævik (Kolbotn) 9 - Ingrid Kvernvolden (LSK Kvinner) 9 - Linn Huseby (Lyn) 9 - Melissa Bjånesøy (Stabæk) 9 - Julie Adserø (Trondheims-Ørn) 9 - Sherida Spitse (Vålerenga) 8 - Emilie Nautnes (Arna Bjørnar) 8 - Tameka Butt (Klepp) 8 - Andrea Wilmann (Stabæk) FINAL MATCHDAY 04 Nov: Arna Bjørnar vs Klepp 04 Nov: Avaldsnes vs Stabæk 04 Nov: Kolbotn vs Vålerenga 04 Nov: LSK Kvinner vs Røa 04 Nov: Lyn vs Sandviken 04 Nov: Trondheims-Ørn vs Grand Bodø
Maria Thorisdottir and Isabell Herlovsen have withdrawn from the squad with injuries. New players are Nora Eide Lie (midfield) and Ina Gausdal (defence) both from Kolbotn. The squad travels to Japan on Monday.
Matchday 22 of Toppserien, the final round. LSK back on track after the recent loss of form with a cracking win against Røa, which they needed penalties to beat in the NM Cup some weeks ago. Klepp in second place. Arna Bjørnar in third, equalling their best ever league performance. An extra bonus ousting Bergen city rivals Sandviken for that bronze medal spot. Sandviken can still win some silverware in the NM Cup final coming up in a few weeks though. Grand Bodø are relegated. There will be no clubs north of Trondheim in Toppserien next year. Two Oslo clubs battle out in the play-offs (Lyn and Grei) and Fart from Hamar are promoted from level 2. Arna Bjørnar vs Klepp 0-0 Kolbotn vs Vålerenga 3-1 0-1 Emilie Østerås 58 1-1 Marit Bratberg Lund 69 2-1 My Sørsdahl 83 3-1 Eline Hegg 88 Lyn vs Sandviken 2-4 1-0 Vilde Hasund 25 1-1 Ajara Njoya 27 1-2 Camilla Ervik 54 1-3 Joanna Bækkelund 69 (own-goal) 1-4 Kennya Cordner 72 2-4 Mimmi Löfwenius 74 Avaldsnes vs Stabæk 2-0 1-0 Luana Bertolucci 54 2-0 Luana Bertolucci 79 LSK Kvinner vs Røa 6-2 1-0 Anja Sønstevold 9 (pen) 2-0 Guro Reiten 10 2-1 Therese Åsland 13 3-1 Ingrid Kvernvolden 52 4-1 Ingrid Syrstad Engen 58 5-1 Sophie Haug 73 5-2 Guro Bell Pedersen 83 6-2 Guro Reiten 90 (pen) Trondheims-Ørn vs Grand Bodø 0-0 TOP SCORERS 21 - Guro Reiten (LSK Kvinner) 15 - Ajara Njoya (Sandviken) 14 - Maria Brochmann (Arna Bjørnar) 14 - Svava Ros Gudmundsdottir (Røa) 14 - Sophie Haug (LSK Kvinner) 10 - Hege Hansen (Klepp) 10 - Ingrid Kvernvolden (LSK Kvinner) 9 - Amalie Eikeland (Arna Bjørnar) 9 - Karina Sævik (Kolbotn) 9 - Linn Huseby (Lyn) 9 - Melissa Bjånesøy (Stabæk) 9 - Julie Adserø (Trondheims-Ørn) 9 - Sherida Spitse (Vålerenga) 8 - Emilie Nautnes (Arna Bjørnar) 8 - Tameka Butt (Klepp) 8 - Andrea Wilmann (Stabæk)
NIce video on Klepp's facebook page of the season https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=486012911904724