Graham Hansen: "There's too much noise, I like to be a counterpoint"

He could have been a chess player or a poet, two of his passions, but he fell in love with the ball. And I wanted to make a living from football, in the times when it still seemed impossible for a woman to achieve it. He could have been a media star or opposed to all the individual awards, but he took refuge in discretion. And he wants to live without attracting attention, at a time when it seems that everyone wants to be famous. She is Caroline Graham Hansen (Oslo, 28 years old) and wears the number 10 of Barcelona. Without his dribbling, essentially without his football, it would be impossible to explain a new Champions League final for Barça (Saturday 16:00 p.m. against Wolfsburg), the third in three years, always with the Norwegian forward as the leader of the Barça attack.

Question. Tell me about silence.

Answer. I think there is too much noise. And, when that happens, I like to be completely on the opposite side. Maybe I'm too extreme. But if I think things are out of control, I prefer to take the opposite side. Just to make a kind of counterpoint.

Q. For example.

A. I would be more active on social media or with the media if things were calmer. There are many people who do many things on social networks to promote themselves. I don't believe in that. I don't see it wrong, but I just don't feel that way. I play football and the rest will come. I understand that you don't have to stick out your elbows and just think about yourself to play in the best teams. I believe in something else. You can be humble and work hard to get to the top without needing to promote yourself.

Q. What do you think when you don't appear on the Liga F cards?

A. It doesn't bother me, on the contrary. Somehow I'm right. Since I don't put my face in the shop window, I miss that kind of thing. But at the same time, when I go out on the field and play, I'm one of the best. So what do I prefer? I'd rather be one of the best and help my team win. Maybe there are people who see it strange, how come it is so good and not there? Maybe there's another who thinks my attitude is stupid because I lose money.

Q. Are you right?

A. They only think about it because I don't use my image. And I just want this whole path to be pure, to be sincere.

Q. Don't you think women's football needs your voice?

A. Yes, but I think my voice is most useful when I choose my battles well. Why should I have an opinion about everything? If my voice were everywhere, no one would hear me when there is an important case. So, I have to choose my battles. Because I assure you that we have many battles.

Q. What is your most important battle today?

A. That the people in charge take our sport seriously.

Q. Have you always had to fight?

A. In the lower categories he played with the men. At one point I had to move on to playing with the ones one year older. The coach of my generation didn't want me. He said he was a bad influence on children. He never explained it to me too well. His argument was that I was too serious. Another coach appeared and told me: "Don't worry, you come and train with us. You are too talented." And step by step I began to catch the level of the greatest.

Q. Did you haggle them as easily as you do today?

A. I think I've always wanted to play football since I've fallen in love with dribbling: one, two, three, four... And she was super good at it. The theory is that you have to practice what you're good at and keep doing it... Well, that's what I did. And if it failed, he tried again. That's when it becomes second nature to your game, when you were raised that way. I think a lot of European players, in general, educate us in perfection. Perfection in passing, perfection in understanding the game. Basically in being perfect machines. We don't have that street game culture.

Q. So how has she become a great haggler?

A. Going outside to play with my friends. One against one, two against two. Dumb games to see who was the best at something. I think playing on the street is the only way for the game to be natural.

Q. And what are the streets of Norway like?

A. They are not like those in Rio de Janeiro. There is a lot of snow... [laughs]. It was a matter of finding a space, sometimes only three or four meters. Remove the snow and start haggling. Sometimes there was no snow, but the grass was very bad. I guess like everywhere: manage what you have and make the best of it. There's one thing all kids have had in common, no matter where we've grown up: football is fun.

Q. Can you have fun in professional football?

A. Me? I keep playing for fun. Why would I spend so much time on something I didn't enjoy? In something that only gave me a little joy? We don't make that much money. We're better off, but we're not going to be like men. At least not at this stage. I hope that the next generations can achieve this.

Q. What did you dream of when you were little?

A. With playing on a men's team. He had that determination.

Q. Men's team?

A. Yes, men's team. There were no women's teams. For me nothing was impossible. I was five or six years old and I thought that if I was good enough, the physique would not be a limitation. In fact, when I was 15 years old I started playing with the women, but my idea was to stay in the men's team. It was one of the best U19 academies. My goal was to stay there and achieve it.

Q. Did no one tell you it was impossible?

A. A lot of people told me I was crazy to pursue my dream of making a living from football. You know, it was a girl. "You're never going to make money," "You should concentrate on studying," they told me. But my parents were very supportive. I was told to work hard and seek happiness. They didn't pressure me to study. They understood that I could do it later. I was lucky that at 19 I was already playing professionally and a couple of years later I was in Germany and making a lot of money. And, since then, everything has been growing. Everyone who thought I had a stupid idea, I don't think they think about it now.

Q. The Germans and the Scandinavians have been like the pioneers in the feminine.

A. We are not so many people in the Scandinavian countries. Today there are many countries that are betting on football practiced by women. We were the pioneers, it's true, and that's why we put ourselves in the top positions in the beginning. Perhaps we have not been able to take advantage of that advantage well. While Spain, for example, has been able to take advantage of all its football culture. And step by step they have been able to place themselves among the top selections.

Q. Wolfsburg doesn't deceive, does it?

A. It's the typical German team. They fight a lot, they are very disciplined and they have good forwards. They know how to kill parties. It will be a tough match. But no one said it would be easy.

Q. What is Barcelona's strength?

A. Our way of playing. People think our attack is incredible, but those who really understand football know that we defend very well. We take a lot of risks, yes; but how we take them in attack.

Q. Is it your best season here?

A. Perhaps it is the most effective.

Q. Are you the best player in the world?

A. No, I wouldn't say that.

Q. The most undervalued?

A. Maybe. Many fans think so. But, in the end, I've already won a Champions League and I'm fighting to win another... And I play to win.

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