Chelsea defender Mjelde delighted to make EUROs after months of serious doubt | OneFootball

Chelsea and Norway defender Maren Mjelde says that she is delighted to be at the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 after months of doubt.

The 32-year-old sustained a serious knee injury in the 2020/2021 FA Women’s Continental League Cup final which left her sidelined for months.

Mjelde endured a lengthy recovery programme and she has admitted that there were serious concerns over whether she would be fit enough to play for Norway at this year’s UEFA Women’s EURO. Having completed her recovery, Mjelde could now feature for her country in their Group A opener against Northern Ireland in Southampton this evening.

“I am really happy to be here, it means a lot to me to be sitting here today,” Mjelde said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “Many, many times I have doubted that it would happen but 15 months of hard work is behind this match.

“The last seven or eight months have been good but sometimes you get these thoughts, these doubts. I managed to erase the negative thoughts that I had following my injury quite quickly.”

Off the back of her injury, Mjelde hasn’t had an awful lot of game time for club or country but she insists that she is ready to feature at the EUROs.

“I’m feeling fine (after the pre-camp),” Mjelde said. “We also had a pre, pre-camp which was important for me.

“The most important thing is that we have been training together. Yes, I haven’t played so much in a long time but I have been preparing and training with the ball.

“Playing games is maybe the most important thing (to prepare) but I’m back now.”

Mjelde and Norway’s UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 opener against Northern Ireland in Southampton kicks-off at 8pm.