Women's Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg says she quit the Norwegian national team after being left "mentally broken" and suffering nightmares.
Olympique Lyonnais forward Hegerberg, 23, will work at the womens World Cup in France as a TV pundit instead of leading the Norway attack, having said previously she quit international soccer in 2017 due to a dispute with her home federation about how women's soccer is treated in the country.
Ada Hegerberg says she was 'broken' by her experiences with the Norwegian team.Credit:AP
"It was tough at so many camps. I have been broken mentally," Ada Hegerberg told Norwegian soccer magazine Josimar.
"It has been a deeply depressing feeling.
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"I had nightmares after being with the national team, you shouldn't have things like that.
"If you want to get anywhere in life you have to make choices.
"Immediately the thought came into my mind – 'I think I'll have to stop playing for the national team. [Then] everything just ran off and I started to sleep well again."
The Norwegian association has since agreed to double the remuneration pot for women from 3.1 million Norwegian crowns ($A509,000) to 6 million crowns ($985,000), but Hegerberg remains steadfast in her decision to boycott the national side.
"It can be tough to stand alone for something you believe in. But thats something Im willing to take to keep my values, and what I believe in and where I want to go," Hegerberg told CNN last month.
"I was really honest with the national team representative.
"What I felt wasnt good enough – its not good enough."
However Hegerbergs latest comments have drawn a stinging rebuke from Norwegian mens team and Real Madrid midfielder Martin Odegaard who has questioned the timing of the Josimar interview, coming shortly before Norway open their World Cup campaign against Nigeria on Saturday.
Maybe you can find something better to do than destroy the national teams preparations for the World Cup? the winger said in aRead More – Source
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