Team Norway: You're Right, Girls Suck at Soccer*

*Players admit ... in a spoof video
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 23, 2015 1:33 PM CDT

Several Norwegian players teamed with Norway's national TV broadcaster NRK to produce a "mockumentary" addressing sexist stereotypes and critics who say the women's game is no match to the men's. During the four-minute video, Scandinavian players—in mock seriousness—reveal to an "interviewer" how much they struggle at soccer. Midfielder Emilie Have acknowledges how she sometimes forgets to use her feet and instead tends to pick up the ball. Goalkeeper Ingrid Hjelmseth complains the goal is too large, and says it would be easier with two keepers or, better still, three. "We suck, plain and simple," veteran defender Trine Ronning says in the Norwegian-language film, which features English subtitles.

The Norwegians also send FIFA suggestions on how to improve the women's game: smaller pitches, lighter balls, and having players throw the ball off free kicks. They even produce a letter from FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who sums up his "response" by writing: "HAHAHA these suggestions made my day. LOL." Posted to YouTube on June 15, the video has attracted nearly 340,000 hits as of this writing. "For me, it's good humor," Ronning said this week. "It was a way for us to tell the people that we don't care about it, because the product is very, very good, as it's been shown in many matches in this tournament. We just have to joke about it." Unfortunately for the 11th-ranked Norwegians, they lost 2-1 to England yesterday. (More Norway stories.)

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