Who is Ada Hegerberg?
Ada Hegerberg played for the Norwegian national team and Lyon and in 2018 was the first-ever recipient of the Ballon d'Or Féminin, the top prize in women's football. She holds the record for most goals in a UEFA Women's Champions League season.
She is well known for stepping down from representing the Norwegian national team in 2017.
Why did she stop representing Norway?
In 2017, Hegerberg decided to stop representing the national team to protest against the Norwegian Football Association due to how they treat women's football.
She hasn't played for them since, sitting out the 2019 World Cup and missing the opportunity to boost her career and her absence was especially notable since the tournament was held in Lyon, France, where her club team comes from and because she had recently been awarded the very first Ballon d'Or Feminin, honoring the world's best female soccer player.
To discuss the kind of mistreatment Hegerberg is against, in her film, she discusses an incident years ago when she tried to question the federation about her team's lack of access to a field when preparing for a major tournament while the boys' and men's sides hadn't qualified for anything in nearly two decades but were still given access but before she could get her answer, her own coach tried to shut her up and dismissed her.
She continues to set records by playing for Lyon and sticking to her values as she believes that it's the job of people like her to break the barriers and stereotypes for the next generation.
Some of her notable achievements-
At only 15, she helped Norway to the 2011 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship finals
Hegerberg was named UEFA's best women's footballer in Europe from 2015 to 16 and in 2016 scored more goals than anyone else in UEFA, even more than Cristiano Ronaldo. Hegerberg struck nine goals for Lyon in the UEFA Women's Champions League, seven in qualifying for UEFA Women's EURO 2017 for Norway, and two in the European play-offs for Women's Olympic tournament, making a total of 18 for the year. Ronaldo struck 17 goals: seven in the UEFA Champions League, three in the victorious UEFA EURO 2016 campaign, and seven in European Qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
In January 2016, Hegerberg became only the second woman to win the Golden Ball as Norway's best footballer
Ada Hegerberg struck twice on her 50th European appearance to set a new record of 53 goals and reigns as the all-time top scorer.
She once said,
"I can see the impact all the success that I’ve had with Lyon has not only had on young girls but also young boys in Norway. I feel that’s a big game-changer.”
And that is most definitely true as she breaks barriers, sets records, and as a person with such an incredible set of achievements, inspires young children and teaches them that gender does not matter in sports, all that matters is passion.
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