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Philippines wary of ‘wounded’ Norway for crunch World Cup game

Alen Stajcic warned his Philippines team to be wary of "wounded" Norway when they clash at the Women's World Cup on Sunday with qualification for the knockout stage on the line.

Published: 29 July 2023 11:02 CEST
Philippines wary of 'wounded' Norway for crunch World Cup game
Team Philippines attends a training session in Auckland on July 29, 2023. Photo: Saeed KHAN/AFP.

The Philippines celebrated their first appearance at a World Cup finals with a stunning 1-0 victory over co-hosts New Zealand on Tuesday. That result, after a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland on their tournament debut, means they will advance to the last 16 by beating 1995 World Cup winners Norway at Eden Park in Auckland.

The Norwegians are traditional heavyweights in the women’s game but have performed poorly so far, losing 1-0 to the co-hosts and then drawing 0-0 with Switzerland.

They appear to be in disarray with an injury to star striker Ada Hegerberg and player discontent.

“Obviously each team has different issues whether it be physical, mental, social, cultural,” said the Philippines’ Australian coach Stajcic on Saturday.

“I have followed football for 30 years and I know how strong the culture of Norwegian women’s football is.

“I don’t care what’s going on in the camp, I am sure they are going to come out tomorrow and fight for their country. The fact they are wounded sometimes means they come out and fight harder
to prove everyone wrong.”

Stajcic is hoping to mastermind another famous victory for the 46th-ranked Philippines and take them into the knockout rounds, just like he did with his native Australia in 2015.

“I am really proud of the whole group,” he said. “Nobody thought we would be alive, we were the underdog and now we go into the last match against a superpower of women’s football historically and knowing we have a chance of progressing to the next round.”

He added: “We treat every game the same, I don’t care if we are playing Norway, America, Myanmar or Hong Kong. Every single game is the same. We know we need to win.”

Norway must win to stand a chance of advancing. But their former Ballon d’Or winner Hegerberg was forced out just minutes before the 0-0 draw with Switzerland after suffering an injury in the warm-up.

Then coach Hege Riise’s decision to drop Caroline Graham Hansen led to the star Barcelona winger claiming she had been shown a lack of respect.

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SPORT

Norwegian police charge Olympic champion’s father for domestic violence

Norwegian police said Monday that Gjert Ingebrigtsen, father and former coach of 1,500m Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, had been charged with domestic violence against a family member.

Published: 29 April 2024 16:41 CEST
Norwegian police charge Olympic champion's father for domestic violence

Jakob Ingebrigtsen and two of his brothers, Henrik and Filip, who are also athletes, shocked Norway last October when they accused their father of being violent.

“We grew up with a very aggressive and authoritarian father, who used physical violence and threats as part of his upbringing,” the brothers wrote in an op-ed for newspaper VG. “We still feel a sense of discomfort and fear that we have felt since childhood,” they added.

Police opened a probe into the abuse claims and on Monday said prosecutors had decided to charge Gjert Ingebrigtsen, 58, with domestic violence against one of his children.

According to a source close to the case, the acts in question do not concern the trio of known athletes but another, younger child.

Over a period of four years, from 2018 to 2022, Gjert Ingebrigtsen allegedly manhandled, insulted, threatened and hit the child in the face with his hand or with a towel.

Responding to questions from AFP, Therese Braut Vage, who led the investigation, would not confirm this account.

Police said they had closed investigations into other events concerning the six other children in the home either due to a lack of evidence or, in one case, because the statute of limitations having expired.

Gjert, who coached Jakob until after the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo — where Jakob won the gold — has always denied the accusations against him.

“As far as the dismissed cases, we agree that there is no evidence to prove that Ingebrigtsen committed any wrongdoing,” his lawyer John Christian Elden told AFP on Monday.

“For the rest, Ingebrigtsen disputes the description of the facts on which the indictment is based — and he therefore does not admit his guilt,” he continued in an email.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the most successful of the three brothers, twice winning gold in the world championships 5000m in 2022 and 2023, as well as the Olympic 1500m gold.

The 23-year-old is also preparing for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.

Henrik, 33, and Filip, 31, were European champions in the 1500m in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

After breaking with his sons, Gjert Ingebrigtsen shocked Norwegian athletics by becoming the trainer of another runner, Narve Gilje Nordas.

The Norwegian Olympic Committee has said that Gjert will not be granted accreditation for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, as was the case at last year’s World Athletics Championships.

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