Riise hopes Hegerberg can return for Japan game

Norway boss Hege Riise is hopeful star forward Ada Hegerberg will be fit to face Japan in the Women's World Cup last 16 on Saturday.

Sophie Roman Haug has been deputising for Hegerberg and scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 win against the Philippines.

"We know we have two good number nine target forwards and that's a luxury for me as a coach," Riise said on Friday.

"The goal is to get her [Hegerberg] ready for the match and then we will have to see how ready she will be, whether she can play 90 minutes or shorter.

"We'll see who will be available and playing from the start."

Former Ballon d'Or winner Hegerberg made her only start of the tournament in Norway's opening defeat against New Zealand, a result Riise called a "devastating" wake-up call.

"But after that we got better step by step and when we needed a good win we went on to play Philippines and won 6-0. So confidence in the team is rising," Riise added.

However, Saturday's opponents Japan will also be full of confidence after topping a difficult Group C with a 100% win record and without conceding, beating Spain 4-0 along the way.

"The atmosphere of the team, the strength of the team, is being realised well in this World Cup," Japan head coach Futoshi Ikeda said.

"Each player is performing their role. They're not only performing to their own capacity, but they are working as a unit. It's all about the collective."

Ikeda is hopeful defender Shiori Miyake, who was injured in training this week, could be available to play at Wellington Stadium against Norway.

The winners of that tie will face Sweden or reigning champions the USA in the quarter-finals on Friday, 11 August.

Key stats

• This will be the second meeting between Japan and Norway at the Women's World Cup, after a 4-0 win for the Norwegians in the group stage in 1999 - current Norway coach Riise scored the opening goal from the penalty spot.
• Japan have scored 11 goals in three games at this Women's World Cup and are only one goal away from their best scoring performance of 12 in 2011 when they lifted the trophy (six games).
• Despite having played only two games, Haug has had seven shots on target, at least four more than any other Norwegian player.