Hegerberg: The best footballer in the world

Ada Hegerberg: The best female footballer in the world

When we think about sports in Norway, perhaps the first sport that will come to our minds is skiing (cross-country skiing which is the national sport of Norway). Therefore, it may not strike our minds that the best footballer around is from Norway. However, Ada Hegerberg breaks from the mould, being crowned as the best female footballer of the world in 2018. In this article, I would like to introduce you to this enigma.

Ada Martine Stolsmo Hegerberg was born on 10 July 1995 in Molde, Norway. She plays as a striker for the Division 1 Féminine club Olympique Lyonnais. Her statuesque 177 cm from tip to toe, has made her one of the best strikers in the world.

“I know what I want and what the value thereof. In such a situation, making difficult decisions is easy. When you know what you want and stand for what values, everything else goes back to how you are honest with yourself. You can be the historian or the first, but the world’s attention to the other. You will be informed about what you have achieved, goals scored or records that cannot be broken. Questions that you are asked about are not about fantastic talent in football or your exceptional performance, but about your talent at dancing”.

This is a summary of the experience of the best female footballer of 2018. Ada Hegerberg, in an interview with CNN after receiving the Ballandor Prize answered to the questions posed by the presenter: “I was expecting to be asked about my talent and my feelings as the one who won the prize, but I was so happy to win the prize, I did not care about anything else.”

Hegerberg is an extremely talented player. She has, for example, won three Champions League titles. She scored 33 goals in twenty-one appearances for Lyon in addition to breaking the record in a single Champions League season. It was expected that the first woman to win the most important individual prize in football would become headline news. From now on, all Norwegian players will be remembered, albeit with a footnote. The question asked by the programmer about Hegerberg’s dance. Inequality was at stake in the night that was supposed to be a great success of women’s sports.

Hegerberg’s quest for gender equality

Ada Hegerberg went to France in 2014 and joined the Lyon team, but she has always acknowledged that it was fortunate to have grown up in a country where there are equal opportunities for men and women. Hegerberg says that her mother has a great influence on her. The mother always gave her confidence and encouraged her not to fear expressing what she thinks. That is the reason why the world’s best footballer is ready to sacrifice her professional life for future generations.

In 2017, she was kicked out of the national team due to what she perceives as erosion of the situation of women’s soccer in Norway. Despite the World Championships in France being only seven months away, this footballer had no intention of appealing. In 2017 women’s soccer teams made a great deal of progress toward equal pay for both genders in football. After that, Norway became one of the leading nations in achieving equal income for women and men. That is, however, not enough for the Heggerberg. “It’s not always a matter of money. It’s an endeavor and professionalism that matters. All my demands have been directly addressed to the federation, but it has no effect”, Ada Hegerberg explains.