It took just 17 minutes for Guro Reiten to present herself as Norway’s golden girl at the World Cup, and she is now ready to take her share of the responsibility against hosts France in a game likely to have a huge bearing on Group A.

Reiten grabbed the world’s attention with a deflected first-half strike, putting Norway on track for a comfortable 3-0 winners over Nigeria.

"It’s hard to describe what I felt when I scored that first goal, it’s like an out-of-body experience. I had to watch the replay to see exactly what happened, you get so happy,” she said following Norway’s final training session in Cannes ahead of the France game.

Having been the top scorer in the Norwegian league for each of the last two seasons, Reiten is no stranger to hitting the back of the net, but the goal against Nigeria generated a whole lot of media attention from around the world.

“There’s been a lot of media and press here - that’s how it is with major championships, everybody wants a piece of you, especially when things are going well, but it’s only positive,” she explained.

Many would see facing the host nation at this early stage as a big challenge, but Reiten is not worried at all.

“We’ve looked forward to this for so long, and to get the start we have had is wonderful. We can relax now, France are the favourites and we can just go out and play our game,” she said.

Well-known in Norway for her cultured left foot, the 24-year-old is set to join Chelsea Women in England’s Women’s Super League after the World Cup, but she will have several more opportunities to make a name for herself in France.

Coach Martin Sjogren is likely to retain Reiten in the starting line-up, but the game-plan against the hosts will be somewhat different.

“We’ll have to be a little bit more defensive and we’ll have to be better than we were against Nigeria, because France are a better team with a better attack,” Reiten said.

“The key to the game is what we do when we have the ball. We want to create chances and score goals.”

With fellow winger Caroline Graham Hansen also impressing in the opening game, striker Lisa-Marie Utland getting on the scoresheet and forward Isabell Herlovsen forcing an own goal, Norway will have plenty of attacking options at their disposal in Nice.

“There’s a lot of people who will be important tomorrow, but I hope I can contribute offensively."