Scanning the globe, few countries can boast that they were the pioneers of modern women’s soccer. Rooted in tradition and pride, Norway’s slow and painful free fall from the elite of women’s soccer has caused a painful and bitter chapter within their history. Melissa Wiik’s early exit from Frauen Bundesliga team, VFL Wolfsburg, may illustrate just how far Norway has fallen behind. Toppserien league’s leading scorer envisioned herself leading Wolfsburg to the top of the Bundesliga table. However, within a year, Wiik’s sensational scoring came to an abrupt halt.
Rewind to January 2010. Norwegian’s young and promising striker, Melissa Wiik announced that she craved being challenged at a higher level. Germany was developing a reputation for being a tactically sound league that showcased both young and established older international players. Wiik, a strong scorer within the Norwegian league, decided to leaver her native soil and sign a one and one half year contract with VFL Wolfsburg, a predominantly younger team. The 2007 Norwegian
Wiik had always maintained that she would return to Norway when her contract ended. After scoring two goals during a winter tournament for her Wolfsburg’s debut, Wiik probably never envisioned the reality that faced her the following year. Wiik had eventually evolved into spectator, watching matches from the bench.
In a crucial World Cup year, international players looking to catch the eye of their national coaches, need to be active in match play. Playing outside of the home country can be detrimental for national training sessions if players are not released from their club. Combined with the lack of play and exposure, Wiik needed to leave Wolfsburg.
Ralf Kellermann, Wolfsburg’s coach, admitted that the tactical philosophy of the team was to blame for Wiik’s lack of playing time. She simply did not fit into the system. As a striker, Wiik found herself competing for playing time against the two Martinas, German superstar Martina Mueller and Swiss Martina Moser. Kellermann, often plays a 4-5-1, focusing his attack with on striker supported by the midfield. Even when Wolfsburg played with two strikers, Moser was chosen over Wiik to partner with Mueller. With Wiik gone, Wolfsburg only lists two true strikers on the roster. One could argue that within Kellermann’s style, Wiik would always be overshadowed by the dominating Mueller. With a supporting midfield which includes Norway’s Larsen-Kaurin, Wolfsburg has found little difficulty in finding goals against Bundesliga teams. That is with one exception. The elite teams.
Despite Wolfsburg’s lack of success against Frankfurt and Potsdam Turbine, the issue at hand, at least for now, is that Wolfsburg needs to develop a stronger defensive core. Whether it is Kellermann’s coaching style or the team’s lack of “readiness”--Wolfsburg will not be mimicking Turbine Potsdam’s aggressive 4-3-3 attacking style. With promising young offensively minded mid-fielders such as Selina Wagner, Kellermann may choose to stay with a limited striker core.
Melissa Wiik was welcomed back to Norway with great excitement from fans. Wearing the Stabæk IF jersey, Wiik could possibly take on Wolfsburg this weekend at the International Women’s Cup. If Wiik succeeds once again at Stabæk IF, may we conclude that Norway has once again fallen in short? Although considered warm-up matches for league play, how Stabæk IF plays against international clubs may send a clear indication as to the strength of Norway’s National squad. Numerous Stabæk IF players are on Norway’s roster. Norway failed to defeat any of the major World Cup contenders in 2010. Melissa Wiik’s future on Norway’s World Cup roster seems uncertain. Returning home, Wiik will be fighting to return to a starting line-up as well as a ticket back to Germany this summer.
On a side note, Wolfsburg was successful in their first match without Wiik. Defeating Bröndby Kopenhagen 4-1, Wolfsburg’s only listed strikers both found the back of the net. Moser scored the first goal of the match followed by Mueller scoring twice.
**Wolfsburg’s Larsen Kaurin scored the first goal for Norway in the 2008 Olympic match against the USA. Wiik scored the second goal. Those two goals left an indelible mark on US women’s Soccer history.
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