The Lyon and Norway goalscoring sensation has been vocal about the need for greater examination of the women's game's ACL epidemic
All-time Women’s Champions League top goalscorer Ada Hegerberg wants to extend her tally to unbreakable levels after putting her injury troubles in the past.
The Norwegian international has revealed she had to stick to her guns to overcome an ACL injury and a stress fracture in her left tibia that ruled her out a total of 21 months, including the entire 2020/21 season.
Another knock to her left leg towards the beginning of last season then kept Hegerberg out for another six months, but she has been back in the fold for club and country with greater regularity this campaign, bagging 24 goals in 26 appearances in all competitions – albeit a thigh injury has kept her out of action again over the past few weeks.
Ada Hegerberg wants to set goalscoring records that will never be broken
Ada Hegerberg won the Ballon d'Or – but wants to set even more records (Image credit: FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
Speaking in the latest edition of FourFourTwo magazine, before her latest injury, Hegerberg said of her bumpy road to recovery: “I had all of these old men telling me my problems, telling me what I should do, but I’m a woman, I know my body and I went on a completely different path, because I didn’t believe in what they told me.
“I’m very glad I did that. Always follow your gut. I knew that if I could solve those problems, I’d get back on my feet and get back to doing what I love. I know how my body works. It sounds really arrogant, but it’s not, it’s just how confident I am in what I do. I’ve done it for a lot of years – I know how to be successful.”
She added: “It’s maybe easy to say now I’m on the other side, but I truly had no doubts about my capacity. It was more about finding the confidence to tackle the problem. I had to dig very deep to come back, with the right people behind me.
“The human body is very complex – outside my crew, there were a lot of doubts about me, from people who couldn’t see what was going on. But in my mind, there weren’t. All of my experience over the years has told me that if the preparation is good and the form is good, the goals will be there.
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“It has been hard. You’re in a period which marks your career, yet before that, I’d gone 10 years without an injury – it was so unfair that people soon put me in the ‘fragile’ box without even knowing. You have to surround yourself with people who support you and I’ve had that. It’s nice now to put a little cross on that period and think about the exciting times to come.”
Hegerberg has been at the spearhead of increasingly vocal and numerous calls for the game’s authorities to consider the impact an increasingly arduous schedule may be having on the game’s spate of ACL injuries.
“I’ve been pulling at this topic a lot in the past few months and I see players are really trying to make an impact in the media,” she said.
“I’m actually impressed that we have the energy, first of all, and secondly that people want to take on that responsibility. At some point now, someone needs to come to the stadium and say, ‘Hello, now it’s up to us to do this for the players’.
“The players can only do so much, they’re playing two or three matches every week. We need leaders, federations…FIFA needs to start flexing muscle and addressing the subject, as I’m impressed by how much players have taken up the responsibility.”
Lyon have booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals in Hegerberg’s absence, easing past Benfica to set up a clash with rivals Paris Saint-Germain, giving the 28 year old the opportunity to build on her already record-setting 64 goals in the competition over her career.
“I’ll put it as high as possible so it can’t be broken!” Hegerberg laughed.
“It’ll be a bit surreal looking back at stuff like that, realising what I accomplished. I include what we have accomplished, too.
“When I’m done, I really hope I know that I sacrificed everything to do my best for the sport, to maximise my potential. I’m a crazy competitor, so I do it for myself, too, because I want to win.
“That’s why I’m very excited for the next few years. I want to raise the bar for those records, so they’re not beaten for another 100 years hopefully!”
Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
