Arguably one of the most underrated players in women’s football yet one of the most important at Barcelona, Caroline Graham Hansen has won every trophy available with the club of her dreams. The 29-year-old is regarded as one of the best in the world by her teammates, but judges on award panels seem to overlook her when compiling lists of the best footballers.
The Norwegian winger has numbers that most players on those lists never hit. She is leading the Spanish league in goals and assists with 17 and 16 in 19 matches and has five goals and five assists in six Women’s Champions League appearances.
Graham Hansen was Barcelona’s first summer signing of 2019 and now, sitting relaxed and at home in the stands of the Johan Cruyff Stadium, she reflects on when she arrived four years ago. “When I came here I remember I got a lot of criticism,” she says. “That I was going to Barcelona [from Wolfsburg] for the money and that it was a step down in my career.” It may seem unthinkable now but at that time, Barcelona had not won the league since 2015 and just lost 4-1 to Lyon in the Champions League final. “For me, since day one I’ve felt like this is the place to be,” she adds.
With the Norwegian playmaker on the wing, Barcelona won the domestic treble in her first season at the club and in total she already has four league titles, two Champions Leagues, three Copas de la Reina and three Supercopas.
Barcelona increased their investment in the women’s team after that result against Lyon in 2019 and that showed. “The way we play is going to take the women’s game to the next level and push other teams to follow,” Graham Hansen says. “And we’ve seen that in the last couple of years. Not just because of us but because of all the money and interest that has been put into the game.”
“Look at Arsenal now, playing at a full Emirates. This raises the quality on the pitch because there will be more competition for these experiences and titles,” she adds. Barcelona have sold out the Camp Nou, more than 90,000 people, twice and the side have drawn parallels to Pep Guardiola’s golden Barcelona, playing a kind of football that is near-perfect. They have lost only 12 of 244 matches over the last six seasons. “We have our style of play and I think our style of play has pushed people to think differently and raise their level to try and beat our style of play,” Graham Hansen explains.
To be able to showcase her talents at Barcelona was a dream come true for Graham Hansen, having worn the shirt and supported the club when she was growing up. “I still remember my first game; it was a training game in pre-season,” she says. “It was then that I said: ‘I’m really going to put on a Barça shirt with my name on it.’ It was surreal.
“I try to pinch myself every time I step out here [at the Johan Cruyff Stadium] and remind myself that this is not for ever, and you have to enjoy it,” she adds. “It’s a big part of why I joined, to live this dream.” Her focus is purely on enjoyment and winning, not to secure individual awards or gain social media followers. “I want people to hopefully leave the match and think: ‘Wow, that Barça team has a lot of quality.’ To have young girls or boys want to become footballers because they see the quality that we have on the pitch.”
Graham Hansen wants to end comparisons with the men’s game. “Yeah, physically we’re not like the men,” she says. “But I hope and do believe that people see the quality we have, and they don’t compare us with the men, simply that we’re good and that’s it.”
The contrast between club and country for Graham Hansen, however, is difficult to overlook. The last medal she won with Norway was in 2013. “I’ve been lucky to experience a lot with the national team, good and bad moments,” she says. “I will never forget the good moments; I have a silver at the Euros, I’m very proud of that.”
Norway have struggled to compete with the top teams in the world despite having an attack consisting of Graham Hansen on one wing, Chelsea’s Guro Reiten on the other and Lyon’s Ada Hegerberg down the middle. Graham Hansen has never been shy of expressing her frustration. “We’ve had some terrible years now,” she says. “We just have to say that it’s not been good enough and of course that’s hard. We know that we have good quality, and we know that we want to do better, but we haven’t been able to.
“Let’s hope that we can change that now with a new coach [Gemma Grainger], but we know that we’re not going to be a frontrunner for any title,” Graham explains. “But we should at least be in the mix of the outsiders, and we haven’t even been close to that in the last tournaments.”
She is less concerned about individual awards. “I always said it doesn’t matter, but because I haven’t been included in any awards for the past four years, I really stopped caring. I stopped caring because it doesn’t win me titles for the team, it doesn’t make me happier. Why should I put energy into it? I’m grateful if people do recognise what I do, but if they don’t recognise me, it’s also fine. It doesn’t make me a better or worse footballer.”
Social media has been key to the growth of women’s football but Graham Hansen does not have a big profile on the various platforms. “I think in these times there is so much pressure on visibility and so many good things happening off the pitch for the female players,” she says. “I just want to remember that we’re doing everything for what’s happening on the pitch. To just keep enjoying matches and training every day because that’s why we started. It’s perfectly fine if you want to do stuff outside, but what matters is what happens on the pitch. At least for me.
“It’s an important message for young girls and boys. Don’t lose sight of what’s happening on the pitch because it looks cool to look like a star off the pitch. It’s not worth it if you’re not happy with what you’re doing every day.”
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