Hege Riise (born 18 July 1969) is a Norwegian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

player who is coaching the

Norway women's national football team The Norway women's national football team is controlled by the Football Association of Norway. The team is former European, World and Olympic champions and thus one of the most successful national teams. The team has had less success since the ...

. One of the best footballers of her generation, she won the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

, the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, and the

UEFA Women's Euro The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent ...

with the

Playing career

Club

Riise started playing football at age six and played in a boys' team until age 14. She won the Norwegian Cup competition with Setskog-Høland in 1992. In late 1995 along with four other Norwegians she joined

Nikko Securities Dream Ladies was a women's football team which played in Division 1 of Japan, Japan's L. League, Nadeshiko League. It founded the league back in 1994. The club was disbanded in 1998. Honors Domestic competitions *L. League, Nadeshiko.League Division 1 **C ...

football club in Japan. Nikko won the Japanese league and cup competitions in 1996 and the cup in 1997, after which Riise moved back to Norway to play again with Setskog-Høland. She joined Asker FK, in 2000, and again won the cup competition with Asker the same year. Drafted by the

Carolina Courage Carolina Courage was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Fetzer Field on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in 2001, and then at the soccer-specific SAS Stadium in Cary, North Carolina i ...

in the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first Women's association football, women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000 in sports, 2000, the league began its first se ...

2000 Foreign Draft, Riise was the team's

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

two times and led the Courage to a WUSA Founders Cup title in 2002, before her involvement was curtailed by an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

. In 2003 the

Norwegian Football Association The Norwegian Football Federation ( nb, Norges Fotballforbund, nn, Noregs Fotballforbund; NFF) is the governing body of football (soccer), football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the Norway national football team, men's and Norway ...

named Riise the best female Norwegian footballer ever. Returning to Norway in 2005 Hege Riise joined

Team Strømmen LSK Kvinner Fotballklubb is a Norwegian women's football club from Lillestrøm. They currently play in Toppserien, the top division of Norwegian football. The club was founded as Setskog/Høland Fotballklubb on 10 October 1989. History The cl ...

of Oslo and became the club's playing assistant trainer in 2006. She played her last top-level match with Team Strømmen on 28 October 2006 aged 37 and retired from football as a player.

International

Riise made her international debut with the Norwegian national team in 1990. Norway won the

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. Two years later with Norway she won the Women's World Cup and was awarded the Golden Ball after the competition. Riise's biggest achievement with Norway was winning the gold medal at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, to become one of only three women in the world to win the Olympics, the World Cup and the European Championship (with

Gro Espeseth Gro Espeseth (born 30 October 1972) is a former Norwegian footballer, world champion and olympic champion. She played for the clubs Sandviken and Trondheims-Ørn, debuted for the Norwegian national team in 1991, and played 105 matches for the ...

and

Bente Nordby Bente Dalum Nordby (born 23 July 1974) is a former Norwegian football goalkeeper, who last played for Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon, France. She played with the Norway women's national football team from 1991 to 2007. Career Nordby is the se ...

). She retired from international football in September 2004 with 188 caps and 58 goals.

International goals

Coaching career

Riise retired as a player at the end of the 2006 season with 188 international caps to her credit, the record for all Norwegian footballers. In 2007, she became the chief trainer at

, in the Norwegian women's premier league, the

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1 ...

. In the 2008 season, Team Strømmen were runners-up in both the league and the Cup competitions. On 28 January 2009, Riise was appointed Assistant Trainer to the USA women's national team. Riise was appointed interim head coach of the

England women's national football team The England women's national football team, also known as the Lionesses, have been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first in ...

in January 2021. Her tenure bridged the gap between the resignation of

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English football manager and former player, who is the head coach of MLS team Inter Miami CF. He is also the co-owner of Salford City, along with several of his former Manchester United teamma ...

, who had originally agreed to see out his contract, and his already-agreed-upon replacement, the incumbent

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

head coach

Sarina Wiegman Sarina Petronella Wiegman (; born 26 October 1969), also known as Sarina Wiegman-Glotzbach, is a Dutch football manager and former player who has been the manager of the England women's national team since September 2021. In her playing care ...

due to start in September 2021. Due to the reduced international schedule as a result of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Riise only took charge of three friendlies: defeating

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

6–0 in her debut before losing to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. On 10 March 2021, she was also announced as the manager for

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

at the delayed

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. The team progressed as

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

winners with seven points in three games before being eliminated in the first knockout round by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

4–3 in

extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

. After her stint in the United Kingdom, Riise fulfilled a prior agreement to take charge of the

Norway women's national under-19 football team The Norway women's national under-19 football team represents Norway at the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship and the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. History UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The Norwegian team has qualified for the UEFA Women's ...

. In the 2022 UEFA Under-19 Championship, Norway won their group and came second overall, after being defeated 2-1 in the final by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. On August 3, Riise was officially appointed as

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

head coach replacing Martin Sjögren. The rest of the coaching team consists of the assistant coaches

Monica Knudsen Monica Knudsen (born 25 March 1975) is a Norwegian football coach and former player who managed Toppserien club LSK Kvinner. As a player, Knudsen was a midfielder who won 87 caps for the Norway women's national football team between 1996 and ...

and

Ingvild Stensland Ingvild Stensland (born 3 August 1981) is a former Norwegian footballer who, from August 2022, is one of the assistance coaches on Norway women's national team. As a player she last played for Stabæk FK in the Toppserien. She played as a mid ...

, and the goalkeeping coach

Jon Knudsen Jon Knudsen (born 20 November 1974) is a Norwegian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is from August 2022, the goalkeeping coach for the Norway women's national team. Knudsen spent most of his playing career with Stabæk, where h ...

Honours

Player

;Norway *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

gold medal:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

bronze medal:

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

;Individual *FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Ball:

*UEFA Women's Championship Golden player:

Manager

;LSK Kvinner *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Norwegian Women's Cup The Norwegian Women's Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for kvinner) is a knockout cup competition in Norwegian women's football. It has been organised annually since 1978. The final is usually played on a Saturday, the day before the men's ...

: 2016, 2018, 2019 Norway Under-19 *

UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is a competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belong to the ...

silver medal:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riise, Hege 1969 births Living people Norwegian women's footballers Norwegian women's football managers Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic bronze medalists for Norway Olympic footballers of Norway Kniksen Award winners Women's United Soccer Association players Carolina Courage players Norwegian expatriate footballers Norwegian expatriate football managers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Asker Fotball (women) players Toppserien players People from Lørenskog Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Japan FIFA Century Club Olympic medalists in football 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players Norway women's international footballers 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Nikko Securities Dream Ladies players Women's association football midfielders UEFA Women's Championship-winning players Great Britain women's Olympic football team managers Norway women's national football team managers LSK Kvinner FK managers Sportspeople from Viken (county)