Finnish referee Lina Lehtovaara made her debut as a referee when Norway defeated Northern Ireland. Lehtovaara’s chances of even refereeing the finals of the games got more boost with a good performance.
Norway opened their game in the European Football Championship in a very convincing way against Northern Ireland. The Norwegians won their first match in the A group with 4–1 goals and showed stylish attacking play throughout the match.
Especially the trio that appeared in Norway’s attack Caroline Graham Hansen, Ada Hegerberg and Guro Reiten were very dangerous. The goals from the trio were scored by Graham Hansen from the penalty kick and Reite, who scored a spiraling free kick goal, while Hegerberg provided the assist. They were responsible for the other two goals Julie Blakstad and Frida Maanum.
Especially Hegerberg’s return to the prestigious arena was expected. The star player of the Norwegians was out of the national team games for almost five years, after feeling that the players of the women’s national team were not valued enough in the eyes of the country’s football association. Hegerberg, who won the Golden Ball as the first woman, returned to Norway’s shirt in the spring of 2022.
Northern Ireland’s value race debut was mostly sad. The team’s scoring chances were few and especially the Norwegians’ pressing game Puri in the opening half was bad for the white shirts.
However, the debut also brought the country its first prestigious goal. A top Julie Nelson was able to push the ball past the Norwegian goalkeeper from the follow-up situation of the corner kick by Guro Pettersen.
You can watch all the goals of the match in the video below.
A successful debut as a referee from Lina Lehtovaara
The match was also the first in the tournament for a Finn refereeing For Lina Lehtovaara. In his debut as a referee, he added the first penalty kick of the tournament to his statistics.
You can watch the situation that led to Norway’s penalty kick and the verdict in the video below.
The Finnish referee succeeded in his debut, ruling the match in the end without questionable rulings.
Lehtovaara, among other things, kept a cool head when Norway’s star striker Hegerberg was sent off in the second half in front of the Northern Ireland goal. The Finnish referee did not call a penalty for the situation.
– I don’t think it was a comma either. I think that in this situation, Hegerberg’s own foot hits the ground first. The contact is also quite clean and the situation is torn on both sides. The contact also comes from the side in the situation, and not directly to the back, as ‘s studio expert was in the match Hanna Ruohomaa analyze the situation after the game is over.
Lehtavaara’s name has also been strongly discussed in the preliminary talks for the position of referee for the playoffs and even the final. The 40-year-old referee successfully refereed the Champions League final between FC Barcelona and Lyon earlier in May. So, the Finn will give displays in the preliminary series, thinking about the possible finals of the competition.
– As far as this game is concerned, his shares are high. That previous final also weighs heavily on his scales. This preliminary group match was convincing, even though it wasn’t the most difficult game, Ruohomaa commented.
Ruohomaa also added that both Norway’s penalty kick in the opening half, judged with the help of a video referee, and Hegerberg’s situations in the second half were quite clear.
Lehtovaara has previously refereed at the EC level as the fourth referee in 2017. His streak of honors will continue after the England Games at next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The European Championship continues on Friday with Finland’s opening match against Spain. The live pre-broadcast of the match starts at 18:15.