National player Anja Sønstevold shines after her transfer to one of the biggest clubs in the world. She has played every game since joining Inter and thrived in Milan with her boyfriend and son Louie.

But just a few months ago, life in football was difficult and frustrating.

A career in France was very different from the adventure I imagined.

– The professionalism of the club was not up to expectations, he admits.

• Watch the important World Cup qualifier between Norway and Belgium on NRK 2 or NRK TV on Tuesdays in kl. 6:45 p.m.

– Create more hierarchy

After many years at LSK and Toppserien, Sønstevold decided to leave Norway and signed a two-year contract with French club FC Fleury 91 last summer.

The 29-year-old international player got off to a slow start in his residence taking pressure that would cause more problems than expected.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have a good medical team where I was, and it took a while to figure out what kind of injury I had. So I went back to Norway and did rehab here, but then looked for him again when I got back, says Sonstevold.

She battled the injury for seven months and it was only after an intense program at the French Federation’s training center, Clairefontaine, that she was ready to play again. But returning to the field of training, a new frustration quickly appeared.

– There’s a lot of hierarchy and… I wouldn’t say dictatorship, but someone decides and then you don’t have much to say, said Sonstevold, referring to the club president and the coach.

– It was tough when things weren’t going as well as they should be. If you want to say no, it doesn’t look good to receive it.

• NRK has contacted the French club to comment on Sønstevold’s statement about his time at Fleury, but has yet to receive a response.

I trained for penalties after losing

The 29-year-old from Oslo explains that she has no problem adjusting when something seems reasonable and good, but there have been management decisions that she finds illogical.

– For example, if you lose several games in a row, this is a penalty shootout practice. Then you go into a new fight and tire yourself out more. I felt like we weren’t tactically good enough for campaigns and when we lose then they have video analytics and they just say it was a personal mistake… there were a lot of things that made it difficult to be there after a quarter, he said.

Therefore, he decided to terminate the contract with Fleury, but the family of three was by no means ready to return to Norway.

Internal coach Sonnstfold is convinced

The most attractive offers have come from Italy, and although Inter’s commitment to women is relatively recent, new team manager Rita Guarino has managed to persuade Sonstefold to come to Milan.

It was the conversation with her (Guarino) that moved me the most. I missed being part of an organized organization with competent coaches, and I focused more on that before choosing to go to Inter.

Guarino has won the Italian league four times as a coach of Juventus.

– First of all, I noticed that everyone had great respect for her. She’s very good tactically, but the best she has is the leader and the psyche. He’s so smart there, he follows everyone and there’s someone you just want to impress, in a nutshell.

The inconsistency on his stay in France is considerable, but the national team player still does not regret his stay in Fleury.

“Even though the first year was difficult, I learned a lot from them, which means that now I’m in a club where I’m doing well in a city where I’m doing well, so now life is very good”, he said. .

Ranking in the Norway group:

Centro Mubasher – NTB