The Norwegian striker Olympic Lyon Ada Hegerbergthe first female Golden Ball in history, announced on Thursday her return to the national team after almost five years of absence.
“I am happy to be able to return to this team today and start a new story,” he said in a statement.
Hegerberg, who won the first women’s Ballon d’Or in 2018, resigned from the national team in 2017 due to a dispute with the Norwegian Football Federation over the treatment of women’s football in the country. The federation’s attempts to break the impasse failed. On Thursday, Hegerberg was included in coach Martin Sjogren’s squad for the 2023 World Cup qualifiers against Kosovo and Poland next month.
“It feels incredibly good to be back,” Hegerberg said in a video message. “I will do my part to help us achieve great things, both on and off the pitch, for football, for Norway, but not least for the next generation.”
The Norwegians, who have qualified for the World Cup, lead Group F with 16 points after six games. Euro 2022 will take place in England in July and Norway will face Northern Ireland, England and Austria in the group stage.
Coach Sjogren described Hegerberg as “one of the best” forwards in the world and said the team would benefit from her return. “For the most part, we’ve talked about how we see the future together and not about what happened” in the past, Sjogren said. “It mainly had to do with Ada’s role and how we can make the team even better. The conversations have been very fruitful.”
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