Norway ready to make an impact at World Cup, says winger Guro Reiten

GDANSK – Norway winger Guro Reiten has acknowledged her side’s outsider status at the Women’s World Cup starting in just over a fortnight, but warned against underestimating the former champions at the tournament.

The 28-year-old Chelsea player is set to participate in her second World Cup, with hopes of surpassing the quarter-finals achieved in 2019 when England sent them out with a 3-0 win.

“At this World Cup we are outsiders, but I hope we are going to have a good tournament and you never know who is going to lift the trophy in the end,” Reiten told the Fifa website.

“In the quarter-final against England, we lost to a better football team, but I hope this year we can be even more competitive and go further.”

Norway’s journey at Euro 2022 ended in the group stage with three points. They suffered their biggest-ever defeat when England secured an 8-0 victory in their second match.

Following their exit, Swedish coach Martin Sjogren stepped down and was subsequently replaced by Norwegian Hege Riise.

“She is not a typical coach, because she’ll never stand and shout from the sidelines,” Reiten said. “She calmly conveys clear messages about how we’re going to solve different problems.”

Reiten will likely link up with striker Ada Hegerberg for the national team after the former women’s Ballon d’Or winner suffered an injury scare in April.

“Her qualities are absolutely incredible and she has scored many goals,” added Reiten. “It’s good to have her back and I hope she manages to stay injury free. She will be a very important player for us.”

Norway will face World Cup co-hosts New Zealand in the opening match of the tournament on July 20 at Auckland’s Eden Park in Group A and Reiten is convinced they are ready for the challenge.

“It’s the perfect way to start! Of course, New Zealand on their home ground will wish to impress their fans but, for our part, it’s about enjoying the experience,” she added.

“We will then face Switzerland and the Philippines in our group – teams with different styles of playing. It will be a tough challenge, but it’s a group we should be able to move forward from.”

European champions England are among the favourites for the July 20-Aug 20 tournament in Australia and New Zealand, but were held to a frustrating 0-0 home draw by Portugal on Saturday.

The Lionesses have lost just one of their last 32 games, had 23 shots to Portugal’s two at Stadium MK, including a terrific chance for Georgia Stanway – earning her 50th cap – that she banged off the crossbar seconds before half-time.

Alessia Russo managed to beat Portugal goalkeeper Ines Pereira but defender Ana Borges stretched to make a spectacular clearance off the line during a flurry of second-half chances for England.

Lionesses captain Leah Williamson and Euro 2022 Golden Boot winner Beth Mead, who will both miss the World Cup with serious knee injuries, watched on from the stands.

“It was a little different between the first and second half. I think we were too slow in our possession game in the first half and we had too many players behind the ball,” manager Sarina Wiegman told ITV Sport after fourth-ranked England’s final match on home soil before flying to Australia.

“Although we did have lots of chances... (but) shots don’t say everything.”

Wiegman will have one more friendly to firm up her World Cup starting team with England playing Olympic champions Canada behind closed doors on July 14 in Australia.

“Yeah, of course,” Wiegman said of tinkering with her squad. “This was the first game after we’ve not seen each other for a long time. So last time was April (a 2-0 loss to Australia that ended England’s 30-game unbeaten run).” REUTERS