Mark the way. Be a reference. Become a pioneer. Those were some of the consequences of the decision made by Ada Hegerberg in 2017, after the Euro Cup in the Netherlands. Others, negative, were to disappear from the world focus and from the award lists. The Norwegian star made a difficult decision in favor of the professionalization of women’s football. Since then, her career has not been the same. This Thursday, her ‘redebut’ with the Norwegian team in the opening match of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand has been bitter. Hege Riise’s men have lost surprisingly and by the minimum (1-0) against New Zealand.
Hegerberg was one of the first soccer players to raise her voice. The Norwegian took advantage of his speech to establish herself against inequalities between the male and female team in the federation. The recently named Best Player in Europe by UEFA stood up. She used her voice to demand decent working conditions for soccer players and announced his withdrawal from the national team until they took steps to ensure fair treatment.
The measure of pressure caused the Norwegian federation to react, which accepted the need for a change and established a parity in the remuneration of soccer players. However, equality is not only linked to economic aspects and it was not enough to make Ada’s return real. “It’s not just about money, It is about preparation, acting, professionalism & rdquor ;, Hegerberg said shortly after the new agreement was announced. His decision went far beyond his absence at some concentrations. Hegerberg was aware that with his position he was losing the 2019 World Cup in France and he kept it that way.
“These kinds of decisions are extremely tough. and no one, either individually or collectively, should be forced to make such a decision,” Hegerberg said hours before the World Cup about the decision of having to give up a great championship in favor of claiming rights. “I’m very happy to see that people are beginning to understand why these players make these decisions. I was very alone when I made my decision, back in 2017, and it’s not something I say out of pity for myself; it was like that then. Today you see that there are many, many players of different nationalities struggling with the same challenges and being forced to take a stand, and I have great respect for that. I wish it weren’t like that,” she added before putting on the Norwegian jacket again for the World Cup.
Union make force. She was the first but, as the years have gone by, more footballers from around the globe have raised their voices to say enough is enough. “I don’t think things will change if women don’t stand up. We have also seen it in many cases in society. So we have to stick together and make sure that we perform, because without performance it is also difficult to achieve changes”, defended Hegerberg a few hours ago. “We are not even talking about equal pay, but of some minimum conditions to feel that they take you seriously and be able to perform at the level you want and need”, he added.
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After five years of inactivity with the national team, the situation has improved and the conditions have been met to return. But not all the work is done. In each press conference, each interview and each mixed zone, the question reappears. It is a theme that will never go away. “We should focus on performing at our best, we shouldn’t have to deal with all these problems, but it’s the reality we are in. We will have to talk about these issues year after year before changes take place,” he acknowledged.
The return with Norway has not been as expected. Despite being one of the great teams, and that theoretically adds whole numbers to play a good role in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the team led by Hegerberg lost their first game against New Zealand this Friday. The Norwegians went in tow, without finishing finding their stars like Hegerberg and the Catalan Caroline Graham Hansen, and with little success in the few occasions of danger. Against Switzerland this Tuesday, they want to remove their thorn and walk steadily towards the qualifying rounds of the world event.