As a result, Miedema, player of Manchester City, has brought her goal total in the Dutch national team to 104. Last summer at the European Championships, during the 3-0 win over Wales, the perennial top scorer of the Dutch women scored her hundredth international goal in Lucerne.
And so Arjan Veurink remained undefeated in his fourth game as national coach. The counter stands at three victories (over Canada, Portugal and South Korea) and a draw during his debut in Gdansk against Poland.
Tsunami of cancellations
Whether and how much value Veurink will attach to the victories over Portugal and South Korea will become clear in the spring, when his team starts the World Cup qualifying campaign on March 3 with (again) an away match in Poland. Four days later, the Dutch team receives a visit from the Irish.
After all, in the last international break of the calendar year, the Dutch national team was teeming with cancellations.
All things considered, half a dozen potential starting players were absent in Braga: Jill Roord, Esmee Brugts, Lineth Beerensteyn, Daniëlle van de Donk, Lotte Keukelaar and Vivianne Miedema. The latter was there on Tuesday evening in Waalwijk, but Wieke Kaptein and Jackie Groenen were also missing against the Koreans.
Vivianne Miedema opens her own show in the tenth minute
The question is how heavily Veurink will weigh the cancellations, but he still has time to do that. In Brabant he witnessed the big Vivianne Miedema show. Barely three minutes had been played and the audience in Waalwijk already wanted to stand on the benches, had it not been for Ji Hui Kim to clear Chasity Grant’s bet from the goal line.
Vivianne Miedema is happy. © PRO SHOTS
But in the tenth minute the opening goal still fell for the Dutch team: wingback Marisa Olislagers put Vivianne Miedema to work and the shadow striker finished with great feeling after a dribble: 1-0. Somewhere along the way, Ji Hui Kim had hit the Lionesses’ all-time top scorer, causing her to limp across the grass for several minutes.
Where Romée Leuchter hits the post, Miedema hits the mark
Veurink’s team continued to happily attack and a few minutes after her goal, Miedema could have had an assist to her name, but Romée Leuchter hit the post. Not much later, Paris Saint-Germain’s top scorer missed another great opportunity because she made the corner too small for herself.
But just about every time Miedema was involved in the game, it was a box office draw. After a shot by Ella Peddemors, the ball fortunately fell to Miedema, who then doubled the lead with a clever dribble and a furious shot: 2-0.
With a thunderous swing, Miedema completed her quat trick within 26 minutes
It was one of those evenings when Miedema could not be contained, especially not by the poor Koreans who had traveled to the Netherlands. In the 31st and 37th minutes, the unleashed Miedema doubled both her personal production and the Dutch lead: 3-0 and 4-0. Which made Miedema’s quat trick a fact. Ella Peddemors’ 5-0 was also impressive and marked a milestone for the striker from Enschede: it was her first international goal.
Leuchter, who was doing so well in the French competition, was chasing his own success, but while everything worked out for Miedema, Leuchter lacked any luck. On a pass from Miedema, Leuchter hit the intersection after the break. After an hour, Miedema was one of the substitutes and she was treated to an ovation of applause. The braid danced gracefully on her head. Without Miedema there would be no more goals scored, despite three chances.