At Chelsea “everything is about winning” says Guro Reiten. “You do it once and you want to do it again and again, and it doesn’t change. We love to play finals; the last FA Cup final, against Arsenal with the fans back, was unbelievable. We want to get there again.”
To get to Wembley this time, less than five months since they emphatically beat Arsenal there in last season’s delayed final, Chelsea must defeat the Gunners again in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final at a sold-out Borehamwood.
This season the two teams have been neck and neck, sharing hammer blows ever since Arsenal’s 3-2 WSL opening-day victory over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium. Chelsea lifted the FA Cup in December, then the teams battled to break the deadlock in a thrilling 0-0 draw at Kingsmeadow in the league before Emma Hayes’s side leapfrogged Arsenal to reach the top of the table for the first time this season.
“That was a tough game and we felt a bit lucky after,” says Reiten with a grin. “Everyone knows everything about each other, so it’s more difficult to work out how to beat them. Sometimes you have to change stuff, but that is up to Emma. We’ve just got to go on the pitch with a lot of energy, be really aggressive and play our game and believe in ourselves, because both teams are so good. But I think, and I believe, that we are the best, and that’s what we have to show for 90 minutes – hopefully – maybe 120, you never know.”
While Chelsea, the holders and league leaders, are the slight favourites, Hayes says games held after an international break are a lot more unpredictable.
Reiten describes it as “always hectic” after an international camp but adds: “We’re used to it … It’s like this every single time we’re done with camp, we always have like three days until the next game and this year we’ve been behind Arsenal from the first game, so every game has been a big one for us and we’ve had to win.
“We love playing them. It’s a lot of pressure. It’s a big game and it’s the game you love to win and hate to lose.”
The midfielder’s international window was stunted after she tested positive for Covid on the day Norway played the first of their two World Cup qualifiers. “I’ve been saying that I must be immune for two years but apparently I wasn’t,” she says with a laugh. “I was isolating for three days but I managed to be back for the second game.
“It was hard, but it was just like having a cold. I managed to play, so I’m happy with that.”
The pandemic took its toll on Reiten. Last season she struggled and Hayes named her among four players who found lockdown so hard it filtered on to the pitch when football restarted.
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“That year was difficult on many levels,” says the 27-year-old. “I struggled with back injuries as well, but to be isolated, alone here, far away from my family and friends – and players were not allowed to see each other when we weren’t training either – was a really tough time.
“I appreciate everyone in my team because they are my teammates but they’re also my friends and that year I felt like they were my family. We took care of each other and they were there for me. It was tough, but I’m very glad I play in this team and with so many unbelievable human beings, because that’s what they are.”
That time also made her appreciate football more. “When you step on the pitch that’s when you don’t think about anything, so it was like time off from being isolated, time off from thinking about life.
“It also made us closer as a group and we’ve used that this season. We’ve had a lot of injuries, players out with Covid and players coming on the pitch needing to step up, and everyone has been doing that and it’s been great.
“We’ve got the results we wanted, and everyone feels like they are a big part of this team, which they are, but it’s not always that easy if you’re not playing much. It’s easy to feel left out, but now we are such a good group.”