CONCORD -- In addition to playing for the Norwegian national women's soccer team, Hege Riise is also a marketing consultant for a bank in Norway. She makes her living convincing customers to make purchases and investments.
Norwegian Hege Riise manages to have some fun after beating her teammates at a drill during Friday's practice at Babson College. (Globe Staff Photo / Pat Greenhouse)
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Yet with all of her advertising savvy, Riise doesn't use her skills to promote herself. You'll never hear her say a word about how good she is or how much she means to Norway's hopes of repeating as Women's World Cup champions.
''That's not my type,'' said the soon-to-be-30-year-old midfielder during the team's practice at Middlesex School yesterday. ''Probably [defender] Linda [Medalen] is the player that everyone would talk to because she always has something to say or she always finds something to say. But that's her type. I'm probably a little bit more shy. I've always been that way.''
Riise prefers to let her play do the talking for her. And her opponents have heard loud and clear.
Playing in her third Women's World Cup, Riise is now at the top of her game. She scored three goals and assisted on another as Norway romped through four matches leading up to tomorrow's semifinal showdown with China. She has scored a goal in Norway's last three games, the last two coming on penalty kicks against Japan and Sweden.
Riise has played in every minute of the tournament and is tied for fifth in points with 7. More important than her scoring is her ability to defend and control the tempo of the game. Before her teammates get to celebrate goals, Riise is the one who sets up their opportunities. She has served all but one of Norway's 32 corner kicks.
''She's back with the form she showed in [the] 1995 [World Cup] in Sweden,'' coach Per-Mathias Hogmo said. ''Before we traveled here, she did her best physical test ever. She's very fit now. The fitness together with her skill makes her one of the best midfield players in the world.''
If you don't believe the coach's claim that Riise is one of the best in the world, perhaps more of her stats will change your mind. She is one of the leading scorers in Women's World Cup history with 25 points. She's played in 120 international matches; only Medalen and Heidi Store have more caps. Her 46 goals are fourth on Norway's all-time list behind teammates Medalen (63), Ann Kristin Aarones (56), and Marianne Pettersen (50).
''She's a great player and she has a lot of skills, maybe the player with the best technique in the world,'' said Medalen, Riise's roommate. ''She's so cool and calm. She's not a good header, but her skills and understanding are at a very high level.''
And that form Hogmo referred to? It's the one Riise displayed when she scored five goals and five assists to lead Norway to the title four years ago. For her performance Riise earned the Golden Ball, given to the tournament's most outstanding individual competitor, and the Silver Shoe, awarded to the player with the second-most goals in the tournament (Aarones scored six).
So far, Riise has picked up where she left off in Sweden. She agrees that she's in the best shape of her career, and with a victory tomorrow, may be able to wreak havoc in the midfield in a long-awaited matchup with the United States, if the US wins its semifinal against Brazil.
''I feel like after '95, I had two down years, not that hungry to play football [soccer],'' said Riise, who along with Medalen and goalkeeper Bente Nordby are the only Norwegians to play in every Women's World Cup. ''But there's something special when the World Cup is around the corner. I've been training hard for this tournament. It would be great if we can do it. Now we have to focus on China.''
If the Chinese know what's best for them, they'll be focused on her.
