How Norway legend Mjelde overcame harm to achieve Euro 2025

ZURICH — Maren Mjelde had sung Norway’s anthem 180 instances earlier than, however as she lined up for her nation’s Euro 2025 opener towards hosts Switzerland on July 2, this rendition of “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” (Sure, We Love This Nation) was poignant. It marked her ninth main event, but in addition supplied a second of self-gratification.

Simply three months earlier, the 35-year-old defender had suffered a partial tear of her Achilles and was advised it was unlikely she’d be match for the event. However, identical to she’d completed in 2022 after being advised she could have points strolling once more after struggling a knee harm, the lure of taking part in for her nation in a serious event propelled her physique by means of the ache barrier and confounded medical prognosis.

Mjelde’s standing as one in every of Norway’s greatest-ever gamers was already safe earlier than Euro 2025 had begun. Her membership profession has taken her from native aspect Arna-Bjørnar, to golf equipment in Germany, Sweden, Norway, after which to Chelsea in 2017 — the place she performed 140 instances, received six Ladies’s Tremendous League titles and 4 FA Cups, whereas being labelled “a Rolls Royce of a footballer” by legendary supervisor Emma Hayes — earlier than heading again to Arna-Bjørnar and, lastly, a brief half-season spell with Everton.

All of the whereas, she has been synonymous with this Norway crew since making her worldwide debut 18 years in the past; by means of all of the triumphs and tribulations, she’s been their dependable fixed and was captain for over a decade. Now, as Norway put together for a quarterfinal towards Italy on Wednesday, Mjelde is seven caps away from overtaking Hege Riise’s file to turn into her nation’s most-capped participant. And he or she’s not stopping anytime quickly.

Early promise

Mjelde owes Arna-Bjørnar loads; it is the place she made her profession. Having began taking part in soccer along with her brother and his associates, she joined the boys’ crew, and finally impressed sufficient to realize a callup for Norway’s under-17 girls’s crew on the age of 14. She was a proficient defender, but in addition an excellent attacking handball participant. And, when she needed to choose a university at 16, she prioritized the handball choice.

For some time, she would play handball early within the day, then go to soccer coaching within the night. However as soon as she’d progressed to make her senior Norway debut towards Russia in 2007, aged 17, she determined to ditch handball. Her bodily, abrasive handball type did not match with the necessity to protect her physique for knowledgeable profession in soccer.

Extremely, simply two years later, towards a backdrop of disharmony when 5 skilled gamers boycotted the squad after falling out with then-manager Bjarne Berntsen, Mjelde was fast-tracked into the Norway first crew for Euro 2009.

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Norway made it to the semifinals the place they misplaced to a Germany aspect which had received six straight Euros from 1995-2013, in addition to the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, with the likes of Birgit Prinz and Inke Grings within the squad. And at Euro 2013, Norway reached the ultimate once more, solely to be denied by the identical opponents.

“I feel that is in all probability the perfect reminiscence of taking part in for the nationwide crew,” Mjelde tells ESPN. “We had good gamers, stable gamers, a whole lot of expertise within the crew, and the coach [Even Pellerud] was very strict in the way in which he needed issues. There was a really clear plan, and whereas it wasn’t the perfect type of soccer, we have been clear on what we wanted to do.

“He gave a whole lot of accountability to our senior gamers within the crew, so all of us had possession and that fostered a superb crew surroundings. However nonetheless, after we received to the event, there was uncertainty over how we would do. I keep in mind I received there, a little bit late as I used to be taking part in for Turbine Potsdam in Germany, and I would been in midfield and central protection there. However then after I received to the Norway camp, he advised me I used to be taking part in proper again! It went OK although, as we reached the ultimate.”

‘There have been days I assumed I used to be by no means going to play once more’

For a lot of Mjelde’s profession, she had been fortunate with accidents and managed to make seven main tournaments for Norway with only a few scares. Then got here one afternoon at Vicarage Highway. It was 81 minutes into the Conti Cup ultimate, between Chelsea and Bristol Metropolis, on March 14, 2021; Mjelde was solely meant to play 45 minutes or so, however received moved additional ahead within the second half. “I used to be so excited, as I like taking part in in midfield,” she says.

Ann Katrin-Berger, the Chelsea goalkeeper, threw the ball in her route, and Mjelde turned out of an tried sort out from Aimee Palmer. Her left knee buckled, leaving her screaming in agony, and the prognosis was grim: she’d fully torn her medial collateral ligament (MCL), dislocated her kneecap and injured among the bone across the joint. Her return was arduous.

“I struggled to stroll correctly after 3½ months,” she says. “I used to be like ‘if I can not stroll by now, how am I gonna be capable to run?’ It took so lengthy. For the primary six months of my rehab, I doubted day by day if it was ever going to be OK.

“However I had individuals round me that have been actually like supportive. [Norway teammate] Guro Reiten had come again from summer time holidays and joined my rehab membership. Ultimately, the physios thought they simply needed to get me again onto the pitch to assist my progress. I keep in mind Guro was there for one. She watched me attempt to transfer the ball, and later she stated to me that when she watched me in that session, she thought ‘that is by no means going to work.’ That was when she first checked out me, however then she noticed me progressing and was like ‘thank God.'”

Some 260 days after the harm at Watford, Mjelde returned for Chelsea towards Servette on Nov. 9, 2021. “She is a quiet chief and has been the mom hen of this group for a number of years,” Hayes stated after that match. “The flexibility to learn issues you possibly can’t train. Maren is without doubt one of the most under-rated gamers on the earth.”

Six months later, Mjelde was named Norway captain for Euro 2022. “I used to be so proud, as there have been days I assumed I used to be by no means going to play once more,” she says. However the event additionally held one in every of her worst recollections. Norway opened with a 4-1 win over Northern Eire, however then misplaced 8-0 to eventual champions England, earlier than slumping to a 1-0 defeat to Austria that meant they failed to achieve the knockouts.

“It is nonetheless a tough one to consider,” Mjelde says of the 8-0 defeat. “I simply do not know what occurred. I keep in mind the times after, I used to be nonetheless in disbelief. I nonetheless do not perceive what hit us. I keep in mind standing in entrance of the media attempting to reply questions, and I could not put it into phrases.

“Nothing was adequate from us. It was like we have been paralyzed on the pitch; it was a nightmare. It was in all probability one in every of my worst experiences as a participant.”

Powerful decisions to make

After a 2023 World Cup which noticed Norway exit on the round-of-16 stage, the 33-year-old Mjelde returned to Chelsea in August. However the next February, she was knowledgeable the membership weren’t going to resume her contract in the summertime.

“Once I left Chelsea, I had one purpose and that was to go to the Euros,” she says. “I needed to make some decisions alongside the way in which that in all probability not everybody thought was good.”

The skin notion was that Mjelde’s resolution to return dwelling to Arna-Bjørnar, a crew within the Ytre Arna district of Bergen, was a gentle launch for her retirement; a blissful ending to a outstanding profession. Her brother Erik was the coach, and Mjelde tried to mentor the younger aspect whereas battling (unsuccessfully) towards relegation.

“It was such a change from Chelsea,” she says. “You get so used to different individuals doing issues for you. However right here, I needed to keep in mind — and this sounds foolish — issues prefer to take my very own water bottle out onto the coaching pitch. That was all completed for us at Chelsea … and our laundry. However this was a stunning change.

“Once I left Chelsea, it felt like I would misplaced part of me. So I went dwelling, and it felt proper to remain a little bit longer. Everybody was like ‘that is her going again to Norway to retire.’ I learn ‘oh she’s completed now.’ I keep in mind an interview after my first sport with them [Arna-Bjørnar], they usually [the media] stated ‘oh you are right here to retire.’ However no, I went there to construct myself up once more and to attempt to get to those Euros.”

However with the Norwegian season ending in November, Mjelde wanted a brand new membership to remain match and sharp. The WSL switch deadline was on Jan. 28, and her agent had spent the earlier days phoning round golf equipment seeing in the event that they needed an skilled middle again. And, because the hours ticked in the direction of the window closing, Mjelde accepted a transfer would not be forthcoming: “I keep in mind I simply went dwelling after the fitness center. I used to be like, ‘okay, attempt to keep nonetheless constructive, however it’s not gonna be England once more.’ I went for a nap.”

She wakened a few hours later to see a number of missed calls from her agent. Everton had been involved; captain Megan Finnigan had injured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) they usually needed Mjelde. She was on a flight the next morning and on the coaching floor by mid-afternoon.

Mjelde began nicely and have become the membership’s oldest purpose scorer with a volley towards Aston Villa in a 2-0 win in early March, however harm struck once more. Within the second half of the sport towards Manchester United on March 31, she sprinted for the ball and felt one thing occur in her ankle. She completed the match, however scans later revealed a small rupture in her Achilles.

With solely a three-month window to get match for the Euros, Mjelde went again to the solitary existence of rehab. “I could not imagine the timing of this, how is it doable?” she says. “I needed to do Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) remedy twice, and on my second one I simply keep in mind I used to be like, ‘how am I gonna be capable to get to the Euros?’ My life was fairly lonely for 2 months there, however I knew I needed to maximize the time.” And maximize it, she did.

Counting on expertise

Mjelde was referred to as as much as Norway’s preliminary Euros squad because the twenty fourth participant (international locations might take a squad of 23), had her first coaching session with the crew, and her Achilles held up. Because the crew have been making ready for his or her Nations League match with Switzerland on June 3, a month earlier than the Euros, Mjelde thought she’d be requested to go dwelling. However then two middle backs picked up accidents and she or he travelled to Sion.

“They [the coaching staff] stated to me, you’ve got seemed nice this week, it does not appear to be you’ve got been away from soccer, so you are going to begin towards Switzerland. I used to be like, ‘how will my physique all of the sudden react to taking part in a sport once more?’ However I advised myself, it is one thing I would completed 178 instances earlier than in my life for Norway.”

Mjelde went again to Bergen, stored up her health regime, and waited. Norway’s squad was as a result of be introduced on June 16, however the gamers would often obtain an official electronic mail earlier within the week letting them know in the event that they have been in or not.

“It was the Friday and I used to be sat at dwelling with my household, and everybody was asking me, are you within the squad?” she says. “I hadn’t heard something. Then on that night, we have been sat exterior and my cellphone pinged. And I used to be like, holy s—, we did it. I used to be in.”

The 35-year-old performed in Norway’s first and third group video games vs. Switzerland and Iceland, lacking the win over Finland. With three wins from three, Norway topped Group A and can fancy their possibilities of reaching the semifinals once they meet Italy within the quarterfinals, earlier than a possible semifinal tie towards both England or Sweden.

Regardless of having generational abilities like Caroline Graham Hansen, Ada Hegerberg and Reiten, Norway have but to hit the heights of 2013 and that is the primary time they’ve made it out of the Euros group stage since. Mjelde insists there is not any one purpose why some campaigns have not clicked, however the total customary of girls’s soccer is bettering yr on yr so it is tougher than ever to win main tournaments. This yr, although, there is a quiet optimism within the Norway camp that the crew can obtain one thing particular.

However might a 37-year-old Mjelde make it to the 2027 World Cup? She laughs: “A tenth main event? Pfft.” However she’s already conjured up a number of miracles alongside the way in which to make it to 9.

“I am actually completely happy that I’ve seen the whole lot,” she says. “That semifinal in 2009 was performed in entrance of two,500 or so individuals, and our match with Switzerland right here was in entrance of 34,000.

“I’ve by no means had a purpose of attempting to get to as many main tournaments as doable, it is simply one thing that is come naturally. Captaining Norway for 10 years was an unimaginable honor. I am so proud that I have been within the crew for thus lengthy. We have been by means of many ups and some downs, however I would not change it for something.”