The hotel of the Norwegian team was located next to the scene of the shooting incident. In the opening of the World Cup, Norway will face New Zealand, the other host country of the Games.
On the opening day of the World Cup in New Zealand, a gunman attacked a construction site in Auckland. Three were killed and six were injured in the shooting.
The hotels of the Norwegian and American national teams and the Fifa festival area, where you can watch the matches of the World Cup, are located near the scene of the shooting incident.
The United States is the early favorite for the World Cup. At the team’s press conference early Thursday Finnish time, the events of the opening day also came up.
– Unfortunately, such issues have been dealt with in the United States too many times, national team striker Lynn Williams commented at the press conference.
In New Zealand, shooting incidents are rare, while similar incidents are more common in the United States.
– We see a helicopter and a lot of police cars from this hotel, but we don’t change, said the Norwegian team’s media worker about the first impressions Halvor Lea.
The captain of the Norwegian teami Maren Mjelde stated that the team woke up unusually early to the sounds of a helicopter and emergency vehicles, but has since prepared for the game as normal and had breakfast.
– We have felt safe. Fifa has good security systems at the hotel. Everything seems peaceful. Then we may have to adapt if there are any new regulations from the authorities, Mjelde said recently.
Later Prime Minister of New Zealand Chris Hipkins commented that no changes will be made to the national threat level because of what happened. According to Hipkins, the soccer World Cup will start normally.
Hipkins also praised the “heroic actions” of the police and emergency services and their quick intervention in the situation. The situation is considered an isolated case, and no wider problems are expected.
Norway’s star player Ada Hegerberg commented briefly on the matter also before the opening match of the Games. Norway has just New Zealand in the opening match.
– What happened shows that there are bigger things in life than football, Hegerberg told NRK.
According to Hegerberg, the shooting affected the Norwegian players before the opening match.
– It happened so close to the hotel. It’s hard to ignore it. However, we have been very safe and well informed about the situation, Hegerberg said before he wanted to pass on the message
– Before we think about football, I would like to express my condolences to the victims. Our thoughts have been above all with the victims. But it’s clear that we want to focus on our work. It’s to be on the attack today, play well and take the win.
The opening match of the World Cup in Auckland is sold out. 40,000 tickets have been sold. That’s the biggest crowd for any football game in New Zealand ever.