Even though Norway was knocked out of the football World Cup in New Zealand over the weeked, its players aren’t coming home empty handed. They doubled their compensation for at least advancing from group play to the next round.
News bureau NTB reported how each player will receive the equivalent of NOK 663,000 also after losing by 1-3 against Japan on Saturday, while Norway’s football federation will receive NOK 20 million. They’d earlier beaten the Philippines’ national team by a stuning 6-0, but only tied against Switzerland and lost their opening group match 0-1 against host nation New Zealand.
That means they’re still coming home disappointed, after failing once again to perform well in championship play. Commentators were full of criticism, with Aleksander Schau calling the women’s World Cup performance “terrible” and claiming live on state broadcaster NRK that “we have to be open and honest about that. This is way too weak and not even close to what we should be able to expect from our national team,” which includes several pro-football super-stars.
“It’s difficult to be positive about our World Cup performance,” agreed Aftenposten’s commentator Lars Tjærnås, but head coach Hege Riise defended her team on Sunday. “We will be a team no one will want to meet,” Riise said at a press conference after the match. “We didn’t make (enough) goals, but we managed to create something more.” Her players also supported her, as they now turn their attention to nations league play this autumn.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
