Ada and Andrine Hegerberg: Norway's sister act

Norway will step into the cauldron on Sunday when they face UEFA Women's EURO 2017 hosts the Netherlands at a sold-out Galgenwaard Stadium in Utrecht to open the tournament.

Still, the 2013 runners-up can take confidence from the fact their line is led by Ada Hegerberg, the prolific Lyon striker, 22, named UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe last season. And she can take confidence from the fact that elder sister Andrine is alongside her in the squad.

Midfielder Andrine plays in England with Birmingham City but she was club-mates with Ada at Kolbotn, Stabæk and Turbine Potsdam between the start of Ada's career and 2014. And, of course, they remain international colleagues. UEFA.com spoke to the sisters about their Norway partnership.

Ada on Andrine

"Being able to play on the same team as your sister is really special. I enjoy it 100% and it's a great feeling. We have played together for as long as I can remember, we have been friends and supported each other, and now we're on the national team together. It's a dream come true. At the same time, we know each other's qualities and personality and we try to channel that to help the team get as far as possible.

"We discuss football a lot and give each other small bits of advice on how we see each other's positions on the pitch. We have a relationship on the pitch, although we still need to develop it. Nevertheless, we don't talk football all the time.

"We are sisters and we have a whole host of other topics than football. We are both very fond of culture and literature and we talk about aspects of society; she lives in England and I live in France so we have a lot to learn from each other when it comes to our respective experiences off the pitch. It's nice to meet in the national team camp and to be able to see my sister."

Andrine on Ada

Andrine and 16-year-old Ada pictured in 2011©Sportsfile

"She's my best friend and work-out mate, so it's great to experience this together with her. We try to appreciate that at the same time. We have a lot a fun with the other girls as well, but there's something special with that whole situation.

"There's a lot of football talk. We come from a football family, so we call back home to discuss a lot of things about football. But it's OK, we can give each other feedback, and that's important, but it's also important to talk about other things. More important than football, luckily.

"She deals with the attention very well, she knows her point of view, her values and she manages to communicate those. She talks about football in a nice way. I've been impressed by the way she's dealt with the attention; it's been a heavy load from time to time. Of course she's a player that the other teams will be focusing on, and she's important to us, but at the same time the team has to work well for her to play well."