Christmas at the Hegerberg’s is intense.
There’s time for the traditions, and the gifts, but no Christmas goes by without a football training session with their father.
“Of course, it’s a lot of hard work,” Andrine Hegerberg told FIFA.com. “There was a Christmas when we ran so much that we almost got the flu!”
Andrine and younger sister Ada now find themselves in a far different climate than winters in Norway for the holidays. They’re training on lush green pitches in Portugal as they compete at the Algarve Cup for the national team.
Earlier this year in January, the sisters combined to score the winning goal against England in La Manga. Andrine, a midfielder, swung in a free-kick 40 yards from goal and Ada, a forward, broke free of her defender before steering a header into the bottom corner. This goal had happened many times before, just away from the spotlight.
“We have a quite strong relationship, which we’ve had for a long time actually. And an honest one, as well,” said Andrine. “I think that’s why we work so well together, because there’s always 100 per cent honesty behind it. Also on the pitch as well. You need to be 100 per cent honest if it’s going to work out. If you’re going to achieve something, it has to be real. It comes easily for us, because we’re such good friends and have this tight relationship.”
Growth in Potsdam The Hegerberg sisters were born and raised in Norway, but it was away from the comforts of home in Potsdam, Germany where they saw the most development happen in their relationship, and where the foundations of that honesty was birthed. “We met a completely other culture than we’re used to,” Ada said. The sisters played for Turbine Potsdam in the German Bundesliga for six months together before Andrine moved to Sweden. “We were quite young and we lived together, and we didn’t have so many other people to talk with,” Ada continued.
“As an athlete you have to be selfish and have an ego sometimes,” said Andrine. “And it was kind of intense for us, because we lived together and competition was so hard, training three times a day.”
Ada chimes in: “You just want to be sisters when the day ends. I think we got to know each other quite well through that period. When we moved apart, we grew a lot as people. It just tightened our relationship. That’s why it’s so cool to see each other more often when we’re here with Norway.”
There’s an understanding between the sisters on the pitch that is unique. Ada will know exactly which part of Andrine’s favoured left foot she will use to strike a ball, and she adapts her forward runs accordingly.
“We’ve been working on this for a long time, though,” said Andrine. “It started back in Kolbotn in Norway. We work in the same ways. Having that contact on the field, I think it’s really important for us. It doesn’t always work and we’ve been trying to work on it, step-by-step, for many years now. That’s why it’s fun when it actually happens, like against England."
“It almost happened twice against Sweden as well,” said Ada, not skipping a beat.
Under new head coach Martin Sjogren, there’s a sense that the right equation has been found for the Hegerberg sisters to thrive together with the national team. Ada has had a more consistent run of playing time with the Gresshoppene than Andrine so far, but due to the team’s style of play and emphasis on technique under Sjogren, Ada believes that will change.
“We’ve always been so passionate about this,” said Ada. “The passion has been the most important thing. Our family, we’ve been living for football our whole life.”
When Andrine and Ada talk about the game, they sound like seasoned professionals and it’s easy to forget they are just 23 and 21-years-old respectively.
The Hegerberg sisters will have many more camps to look forward to together, training for European Championships and World Cups, and each one will be second nature to them, just like going out to train in the freezing cold with their dad on Christmas Eve.