The Norway winger, Caroline Graham Hansen, criticised the decision to start her on the bench in her side’s scoreless draw with Switzerland on Tuesday that leaves their hopes of progress hanging by a thread.
The 28-year-old was brought on as a second-half substitute but she could not hide her frustration after the game. “It’s tough, I don’t know what I can say. There’s not much I can say, I feel like I’m standing here with my hands tied,” she said.
“I feel I have been stepped on for a whole year – everyone says all the time that we have to stand together as a team and as a nation, but I feel I’ve been on the receiving end (of a raw deal),” Graham Hansen added.
The appointment of Hege Riise as Norway coach in August last year was followed by an announcement that Graham Hansen was stepping away from the national team to concentrate on her health, but she returned to the fold ahead of the World Cup.
Her comeback proved to be far from triumphant, and after a poor showing by Norway in their defeat by co-hosts New Zealand in their opening game Graham Hansen was dropped, along with Barcelona teammate Ingrid Syrstad Engen and Manchester City’s Julie Blakstad.
“Nothing comes for free in life, but I thought I had earned a certain amount of respect, but maybe that wasn’t the case,” Graham Hansen, who won the Champions League with Barcelona last month, said.
Asked about the decision to leave Graham Hansen on the bench, coach Riise said she had no regrets.
“Caroline is entitled to be frustrated and to express an opinion, but since I arrived in this position I have always said the team is the most important thing,” Riise said. “All players want to start matches. I reached the decision in the best interest of my team and I defend my decision today.”
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Norway had been dealt a huge blow seconds before kick-off when their striker Ada Hegerberg injured her groin. The former Ballon d’Or winner, who has scored 43 goals in 76 games for Norway, suffered the injury in the final sprint of the warm-up, and was replaced by Sophie Román Haug.
“I felt discomfort when sprinting right after the anthems. We decided with the staff that no risk should be taken and no subs should be wasted in such an important game for us,” Hegerberg wrote on Twitter.
