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[ ROSTER ] Norway Olympic Pool
Head Coach: Per-Mathias
Høgmo
Norway's
Olympic Team Pool - A Norwegian View Head Coach Per Mathias Høgmo has not decided who will be amongst the lucky 18 who get to go to Sydney on August 31. Høgmo was therefore present at a premier league match on Tuesday night to evaluate some of the players. Although the 4-nations Cup in Germany gave him plenty of time to try out as many of the girls as possible, it is a tough choice to make.
22 players are fighting for 18 spots to represent Norway in the Olympics. Recent rumors circulating in the Norwegian press say that Solveig Gulbrandsen has lost her chances of going to Sydney and that both Kjersti Thun, top scorer in the Norwegian women's league in 1999, and Silje Jørgensen are on thin ice. Thun was originally not picked for the German tournament and the two friendly matches against the U.S. But Ingrid C.F. Sæthre pulled out in the last minute and the place was offered to Thun. Apart from those last five games she has no previous experience on the Norwegian national team. Jørgensen on the other hand has had a bad season this year due to illness, and will most likely not make this year's Olympic team. More definite choices are striker Marianne Pettersen, midfielder Hege Riise and defender Gro Espeseth, three names familiar to most devoted soccer fans. Espeseth, who has just returned to the national team after recovering from a serious knee injury, played her 100th game in Norway last month.
Regardless of who is going to feature in the Norwegian team, it will be a strong and confident group of players who meet the U.S in Melbourne September, 14. With 6 straight victories in the European Championship qualifying matches, this team is Europe's number one. Surprising really, coming from a country where there are only 60,000 active female soccer players, a number which includes everything from top league players to 8-year-old girls.
Norway's coach, Per Mathias Høgmo, told the Norwegian soccer newspaper, TIPS, before the 4-nations tournament in Germany, that he believes they can win the Olympics. He said: "Strong opponents aren't necessarily bad. With such a young team it's good to have resistance early on. We can learn from that, both individually and collectively." This is also the last tournament Høgmo will be in charge of the Norwegian team. On November 1, he hands over to Åge Steen, who now coaches Haugesund, a team in the men's premier league. Meanwhile all one can do is wait until Per Mathias Høgmo makes his final decision on Monday. The 18 lucky ones will then get ready for the big kick-off on September 14 where the U.S and Norway will meet each other for the seventh time this year.
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