– It felt completely empty. There were many emotions I had never felt before. I remember being afraid that I wouldn’t be myself again, says Cecilie Fiskerstrand to news. Last year was turned upside down when the 26-year-old’s worst injury nightmare became a reality and spoiled what was supposed to be the highlight of his career. After five years in the shadow of Ingrid Hjelmseth on the national team, she was for the first time the obvious first choice goalkeeper. Finally, she was going to make her championship debut for Norway – so both the cruciate ligament and the championship dream ended. – I was in the best shape of my life. Then everything just disappeared. I lost the EC and had to build myself up from scratch. Now Cecilie Fiskerstrand is fighting an intense battle against the clock to reach this summer’s World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand. Crying after national team announcement The opportunity to represent Norway and play on the international football stage has always been a dream for the last chance from Langevåg in Møre og Romsdal. 20 AGE-DETERMINED NATIONAL MATCHES: Fiskerstrand has age-determined national matches for both J15, J16, J17, J19 and U23. Photo: Privat In the ninth grade at secondary school, she started “howling in the middle of school” when she was asked to join the national team for the first time. The national team gathering was the first proud meeting with the flag on the chest for the teenager, who juggled age-specific international matches in both handball and football. Fiskerstrand made his debut in the A national team already as a 17-year-old. Fiskerstrand was referred to as the greatest goalkeeper talent in Norwegian football on the women’s side, and her championship dream was only further strengthened when she was included as an apprentice in the World Cup squad for 2015 in Canada to gain championship experience. FIRST JOURNEY: Cecilie Fiskerstrand (tv) was already in the WC in 2015 to gain championship experience. Here together with goalkeeper coach Roger Eskeland and teacher Ingrid Hjelmseth. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB – It was very instructive, but I wish it wasn’t so many years as second goalkeeper, she admits. She took big steps and was very involved when LSK Kvinner won four straight series championships in the period 2016-2019, but the national team place between the bars was out of reach. The mood-changer returned home from the two consecutive championships in both the EC in 2017 and the WC in 2019 without playing time. Then the EC in 2021 turned out to be the great highlight of his career. Hjelmseth made his mark on the Norwegian national team in 2019 and Fiskerstrand stepped up as the sun-ready first goalkeeper on the national team. At the same time, she stagnated for the first time in her career. Keft to train After four seasons in LSK Kvinner, she signed for the top British club Brighton, but her stay abroad and her childhood dream on the British south coast never turned out as she had imagined. – I didn’t feel like I was developing. We only heard the coach talking in training, and there were few ball touches, says Fiskerstrand. She does not want to be part of the fact that her stay abroad was a downer, and she is clear that she would have done the same thing again. But in order to continue the development, she, together with several teammates, took action. – We tried to train, but then we were told that it was not allowed. We had to go into the coach’s office and apologize because we had been training, she says of the comical incident, although adult banter didn’t stop Brighton players eager to train. – We trained in civilian clothes so that no one could recognize us. We had already trained in club clothes in the park, but then we were once again called into the office and had to apologize for having trained. But in civilian clothes it went well, and then I felt that I was improving and developing. Nevertheless, she returned to LSK Kvinner to what she describes as “a better training routine” after a year and a half of being on the bench and seven appearances in England. At home, club life harmonized with her own thoughts about her own development, and she was finally the clear first choice for the club and national team heading into the EC in England. READY TO MATCH: After five years in the shadow of Ingrid Hjelmseth, Cecilie Fiskerstrand was to make her championship debut for Norway. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Now she was going to return to the British sunny coast and make her championship debut for Norway as the obvious and undisputed first choice. Then it hit my right knee. Two months before the EC. – Nothing made me happy During a training session in May, her knee failed when she had to change direction in the LSK hall. – I had been thinking and training for this European Championship for so long. All I thought in the situation when I took care of my knee was: “Now the European Championships are coming, now the European Championships are coming, when are the European Championships coming.” First, the EC was postponed for a year due to corona, and it was supposed to be one year for me to get better, but then it happened. She continues: – It felt like my whole career was built up towards the EC in England and then it disappeared because of the cruciate ligament and something that I could not influence. She had never had knee problems earlier in her career. But she has always had enormous respect for serious cruciate ligament injuries, as several club and national team colleagues have struggled after severe knee operations. Suddenly she herself was the main character in her worst injury nightmare. SERIOUS KNEE INJURY: Fiskerstrand is soon back in full training after knee surgery last summer. Photo: Private – It has taken a long time to get over. It was so dark for a while, says a thoughtful Fiskerstrand who is usually very happy, bubbly and surrounded by lots of laughter. – But it felt like nothing made me happy. I began to wonder if this was my new emotional register and if there is nothing that can make me happy again. I am not a bitter person, but I have been bitter and it has been unusual to feel those feelings. It was weird and I felt like nothing was helping. – When you first go down in such a spiral, you dig a long way down, but then you dig yourself back up, she says and smiles, even though the process has been demanding. – Many have used mental coaches to come back, but I have had to do this process alone. It didn’t help to talk to anyone. It has been so painful that I wanted to do it alone and I didn’t want to involve others. Intense fight against the WC clock With time to help, the smile and mood are finally back eight months after the knee operation. Now Fiskerstrand, who is on the books with 44 A-national matches, is fighting an intense battle against the clock to reach this summer’s World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand. – I have never trained as hard as I do now. The road back has been really tough and I don’t have time to waste a session. I say to myself: Do you want to play the WC? Lift heavier weights. Do you want to play the World Cup? Lift heavier and more weights. SMIL: – It will not be as big a disappointment to lose the WC as the EC. Sometimes you are not good enough or there is not enough time, but of course it will be tough, says Fiskerstrand. Photo: Erlend Havsgård Martinsen / news At the moment she is in her longest injury period since she started playing football as a five-year-old. She is back in match training at the earliest in March, four months before the WC, and Fiskerstrand is the first to admit that she “depends on flow” to reach the championship. – I am realistic, and know that it will not be an easy road there. But I’m keen to go for the WC and then let’s see if I’m there on July 20 or not. The most important thing for me is to know that I have done everything I can to achieve it. – Because you know the date of the opening match against New Zealand? – Yes, she shouts and bursts into laughter. National team manager Hege Riise is positive on behalf of the last chance. – The chances of her making it to the World Cup are great, assesses Riise, who is clear about what it takes for Fiskerstrand to be considered for the national team: – She has been a clear first goalkeeper here for a while, but she has been out for a long time. She has to have match training first, but she is eager and we know she is training well. And although Fiskerstrand, almost eight years after her first championship trip, has still not guarded the cage in a championship with the flag on her chest for the A national team, she does not feel that she has anything unsettled. – I’m not that interested in proving anything. I really want to experience and play in a championship with Norway.
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