Norway 1, Equatorial Guinea 0

Emilie Haavi's goal in the 84th minute sent Norway past Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in the opening match of Group D on Wednesday. This game was in doubt from the opening moment to the very end.

If anyone expected Equatorial Guinea to be overmatched, they were certainly mistaken. They traded blow for blow with Norway, but in the end, they could not score. EG's star Anonman attempted shot after shot, double figures in all, but to no avail.

Norway came close to taking an early lead. Haavi hit a low shot off the left post from the right side of the box and Isabell Herlovsen put the rebound well over the net. A few minutes later, it was again Herlovsen sending one over the crossbar from 10 yards out.

Equatorial Guinea had their first good chance in the 20th minute as Diala sent Dulcia through, but Haavi made up ground and slid to block the shot just in the nick of time. A couple minutes later, Dorine came around the left edge clear, but her shot went right to Ingrid Hjelmseth.

Throughout the first half, both teams tried several shots from distance with very few being even remotely dangerous. The African squad was especially guilty of attempting long shots, instead of holding the ball to allow teammates to join in the attack where they could use their speed and skill.

Later in the half, Norway had two more chances as Elise Thorsnes' shot went just wide, with EG's goalkeeper Miriam getting a hand on it and later Herlovsen put yet another over the crossbar.

Just seconds before the intermission, Anonman beat the defense to get in alone against Hjelmseth, but Norwegian keeper made a nice save on the shot from 9 yards out.

Herlovsen continued to have problems with accuracy into the second half. Thorsnes forced a turnover and sent the ball to Herlovsen who hit it well wide of the net.

Anonman continued to impress with her ability, if not her accuracy, in the 53rd minute. She spun on her defender and put on a burst of speed into the penalty area, but touched the ball wide of the right post.

The game seemed to be opening up as a couple minutes later, Herlovsen dropped a pass back to Lene Mykjaland, whose shot glanced off a defender and then went off the outside of the right post.

In the 58th minute, an Ingvild Stensland corner found the head of Thorsnes who headed the ball toward the goal. Miriam made the save, but the ball came loose in traffic. Herlovsen was able to hit a soft shot that hit the left post, but Equatorial Guinean defender Carolina was able to fend off Herlovsen's quest for the rebound and get the ball out of trouble.

Next, it was Equatorial Guinea that would have a couple of chances. Anonman's shot from distance in the 66th minute went over the crossbar. A corner kick caused Hjelmseth all kinds of trouble as she got caught out, but the ball was deflected out of traffic just wide of the post. Anonman again tested the defense in the 75th minute, but her weak shot went well wide of the left post.

Back came Norway. Haavi put one just over the crossbar in the 78th minute, followed by Cecilie Pedersen's left-footed drive from 20 yards which forced Miriam to push the ball over the bar with both hands.

Norway continued to increase the pressure and it finally paid off in the 84th minute. Maren Mjelde took possession and dribbled in from 45 yards out to just short of the penalty area. She deftly pushed the ball through to Leni Kaurin on the right side who took the ball to the end line and hit a low cross. Miriam was only able to get a hand on the ball as it came across, just enough to push behind Stensland who was making a run down the center. However, Haavi was making a run toward the back post and she finished into the center of the net as Miriam was unable to recover in time.

Equatorial Guinea was unable to get an equalizer in the remaining time and Norway got the three points, which clearly had to be a relief for Norwegian coach Eli Landsem.

It will be interesting to watch Equatorial Guinea for the rest of the tournament. They showed good skills and played very well at times. If they could be just a bit more patient, instead of trying 25-30 yard shots, they could be a force to be reckoned with. They could give their next opponent, Australia, quite a bit of trouble.

Meanwhile, one would think that Norway will have to be just a little bit better than this when they face Brazil on Sunday. While some players, especially Haavi, had very strong matches, the team's performance was uneven. Anonman nearly split their defense on several occasions and that's something that they will have to fix before they meet Marta and company.

Group D Preview: Norway

Norway (#9)
Region: UEFA
Coach: Eli Landsem
How They Qualified: Won UEFA Group Stage, then defeated Ukraine in playoff.
Prior Cups:
2007: 4th Place
2003: Lost in Quarterfinals
1999: 4th Place
1995: Champions
1991: 2nd Place
Returnees from 2007 WWC: (8) Skarbo, Mienna, Ronning, Mykjaland, Stensland, Giske, Herlovsen, Kaurin.

Roster (Average Age: 24.89)

Name	Pos	Club	Age	Caps/Goals
Ingrid Hjelmseth	GK	Stabaek	31	45/0
Caroline Knutsen	GK	Roa	27	4/0
Erika Skarbo	GK	Arna-Bjornar	24	16/0
Hedda Gardsjord	DF	Roa	28	22/0
Nora Holdstad Berge	DF	Linkoping	24	6/0
Marita Skammelsrud Lund	DF	LSK Kvinner	22	20/0
Guro Knutsen Mienna	DF	Roa	26	30/3
Maren Mjelde	DF	Arna-Bjornar	21	32/1
Trine Ronning	DF	Stabaek	29	113/20
Ingrid Ryland	DF	Arna-Bjornar	22	7/0
Runa Vikestad	DF	Kolbotn	26	15/1
Emilie Bosshard Haavi	MF	Roa	19	8/4
Gry Tofte Ims	MF	Klepp	25	8/0
Lene Mykjaland	MF	Roa	24	36/8
Ingvild Stensland	MF	FCF Lyon	29	102/5
Kristine Wigdahl Hegland	MF	Arna-Bjornar	18	0/0
Madeleine Giske	FW	Arna-Bjornar	23	17/1
Isabell Herlovsen	FW	LSK Kvinner	23	64/19
Leni Larsen Kaurin	FW	Wolfsburg	30	81/4
Cecilie Pedersen	FW	Avaldsnes	20	21/8
Elise Thorsnes	FW	Roa	22	40/6

Recent Matches:

Date	Opponent	Competition	Result
6/16/11	Germany	Friendly	L 0-3
5/19/11	Finland	Friendly	W 5-1
3/9/11	Denmark	Algarve	W 0-0 (5-4 pk)
3/7/11	Japan	Algarve	L 0-1
3/4/10	United States	Algarve	L 0-2
3/2/10	Finland	Algarve	W 2-1
10/26/10	Sweden	Friendly	L 1-3
9/15/10	Ukraine	UEFA Playoff	W 2-0
9/11/10	Ukraine	UEFA Playoff	W 1-0
8/25/10	FYR Macedonia	UEFA WC Qualifier	W 7-0
8/21/10	Slovakia	UEFA WC Qualifier	W 4-0
6/23/10	Belarus	UEFA WC Qualifier	W 3-0
6/19/10	Holland	UEFA WC Qualifier	T 2-2
6/3/10	Canada	Friendly	T 1-1

Certainly Norway has one of the most storied histories in women’s soccer. It is probably their misfortune that the first Women’s World Cup wasn’t played until 1991, as they fielded a strong team for years before that. They have made it to the quarterfinals in all five previous World Cups and they are the only team outside of the United States and Germany to have won the Cup.

Norway made it through the group stage of UEFA qualifying with relative ease and then shutout Ukraine twice to punch their ticket to the World Cup. Outside of the 2011 Algarve Cup, they have played only three friendlies since qualifying. Their record since qualifying is very lackluster 3-4, although they did recently defeat the United States in an unofficial match.

One thing that Norway hasn’t been lately is lucky. Injuries have hit them pretty hard, with Lise Klaveness and Melissa Wiik being out of the World Cup with injuries. Now, Lisa Marie Woods has also been ruled out because of a hip injury and she will be replaced on the team by Kristine Wigdahl Hegland.

While injuries have been plentiful for this Norwegian squad, goals have not so far this year. They have scored seven goals in six matches, which wouldn’t be so bad, except that all seven came in two games against the same team, Finland. Norway has been blanked by Germany, Denmark, Japan and the USA, although they did win the match against Denmark on penalty kicks.

As for those players that will be making the trip to Germany, Norway has an experienced squad. Only eight players return from the 2007 World Cup team, but there is certainly enough of a nucleus to call this team a veteran side. They appear to have a nice mixture of youth and experience and in spite of all the injuries, should be a team to be reckoned with in Germany.

That experience starts with the midfield. Ingvild Stensland has long been one of the most respected players in the world. She is an exceptional defender and her work rate is consistently top notch. She is Norway’s captain and rightfully so. She is joined in the midfield by Lene Mykjaland, who is a talented offensive player and passer.

On the attack, Norway has a number of young strikers that will give opposing defenses problems. The best of these is probably Isabell Herlovsen, who has scored 19 national team goals, nine of those in qualifying matches. She scored six goals in one match against Macedonia. Next, there is Elise Thorsnes, who recently scored a hat trick against Finland. Young Cecilie Pedersen might be the scorer of the future for Norway and she put two in that same match against Finland.

The defense is led by Maren Mjelde. The central defender is rock solid on the back line and it’s easy to forget that she is just 21 years old. For experience on the back line, there is Trine Ronning, who has well over 100 caps for Norway. I’m sure Ronning would like to atone for her own goal in the 2007 semifinal match against Germany.

Ingrid Hjelmseth will be in goal for Norway. She posted nine shutouts in ten matches during qualification, giving up just two goals to Holland. One can almost count on Norway’s matches being low scoring, as they are a strong defensive team and Hjelmseth is a big part of that.

For Norway, it may well come down to their match against Australia for the second spot in Group D to the quarterfinals. Both teams have suffered key injuries. It will be an interesting contrast with the offensive minded Aussies against the always tough defense of Norway.

Note: Some information for this article was obtained from www.fifa.com, www.fotball.no, and www.uefa.com.