By Amy Tennery
AUCKLAND (Reuters) – Norway coach Hege Riise said it was a relief to see her team move on from a divisive week as they beat the Philippines 6-0 at Eden Park on Sunday and squeaked into the knockout stages of the Women’s World Cup on goal difference.
The former champions had everything on the line for Sunday’s final group-stage affair after they lost to New Zealand and were held to a scoreless draw against Switzerland.
As though that pressure was not enough, they had the added task of restoring harmony on a fractured team after winger Caroline Graham Hansen lashed out over the decision to start her on the bench against Switzerland.
“We’ve been through this week together. We talk as a team and individuals and today, the last couple of days, you can see the energy coming back within the team and they believed this game might be the last game,” Riise told reporters.
Striker Sophie Roman Haug scored a hat-trick against the Philippines and Graham Hansen’s first-half goal helped to justify her place in the starting team, while Guro Reiten also scored.
Norway finished second in Group A behind Switzerland, who held New Zealand to a scoreless draw in Sunday’s other match.
Riise called it a convincing performance that showed Norway “are here to participate for real”.
“Caroline as well with the team (was) performing great both on the right side as the left side today,” she told reporters. “It was relieving for all of us that we came back from a few days that (have) been hard for all of us.”
After days of obvious discord, it appeared that Graham Hansen and Riise were finally in agreement.
“It’s a great relief,” Graham Hansen said in televised remarks after the match. “We knew we had it all in our own hands and the mood in the team was great afterwards.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Auckland, additional reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo; editing by Clare Fallon)
