She Kicks Back: Dagny Mellgren Haugland

An instalment of She Kicks Back, the magazine’s heritage feature, marking 20 years since Sydney 2000 with the scorer of the golden goal that won it. Mellgren recounts a 2-0 opening defeat by the United States, Hege Riise lightening the mood with a newspaper headline reading ‘I am so confident’ cut out and stuck to her shirt, then wins over Nigeria and China. In the final, Tiffeny Milbrett’s stoppage-time equaliser forced extra time before Riise clipped a ball forward and Mellgren, after a ricochet off Joy Fawcett, struck low past her future Boston Breakers teammate Siri Mullinix. She says she never felt the ball hit her arm. She reflects on the Norwegian federation failing to build on the gold, her WUSA years alongside Maren Meinert and Kristine Lilly, captaining Norway at the 2003 World Cup, and life now as a radiographer coaching her daughters.