Norway fought their way back with a 2-1 thrilling victory over a physical Canada side at their first Group C game in the FIFA Women's World Cup here on Wednesday.
"We were not so happy with the first half, the Canadians were well organized and it was hard for us to find space," commented Norway boss Bjarne Berntsen.
"But we improved a lot in the second half, we had very good movement in the middle, we had good team spirit. We kept going and we had the belief that we could come back. We added more players in the middle, and became more aggressive in the Canadian box, which proved to be successful."
Canada coach, former Norway women's national team boss Even Pellerud was suspended for disputing a ball in Canada's last qualifying match. His assistant coach Ian Bridge replaced him to attend the after match press conference.
"As a team we played an excellent first half. But the Norwegian team is technically great and a little bit stronger than us. In the second half they gradually get into the game and were better when dealing balls inside the box," said Bridge.
Canada went ahead on 33 minutes when midfielder Candace Marie Chapman fired a powerful left-foot shot into the upper corner.
Norway levelled the score seven minutes into the second half with striker Ragnhild Gulbrandsen's smart header at the near post.
Captain Ane Stangeland Horpestad made the winner on 81 minutes with a fine close range follow-up before an empty net after her teammate's bullet header were parried by the Canadian keeper Erin Mc Leod.
"It was a tight game, very physical, I'm happy, especially with the second half. I seldom scored goals before. So now I'm very happy.
Both teams used a 4-3-3 formation, and the tense 90 minutes just witnessed the clash of two different kind of styles.
Norway put more emphasis on ball possession and technical passes, while the Canucks exert more rough power with their physical strength. Norway had 60% possession in the first half, only to find Canada lead the score board.
Canada's ace striker Christine Sinclair put big threats to the Scandinavian defence with her speed, but Norway created more chances on the North Americans. Midfielder Invild Stensland's 41th minute glancing long-range effort was tipped over by a focused Erin Mc Leod.
Norway launched more fierce attacks after the break with their formation pushing forward. Gulbrandsen could have made another after the equalizer, but her header followed by a small angle shot were unlucky to score.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article