Striker Vivianne Miedema from Hoogeveen returns to the Dutch national team after 13 months after a serious knee injury, surgery and rehabilitation
The Drenthe native has been called up by national coach Andries Jonker for the Nations League matches of the Dutch team against Scotland. “I spoke with Vivianne and Arsenal and looked at the possibilities,” says Jonker. “Vivianne is training with the group at Arsenal. She can also train with the group with us. If that goes well, it is possible that I will use her in the matches against Scotland.”
Miedema has not yet returned to the London Arsenal team in the English competition. Her partner, England international Beth Mead, did just that last weekend. She suffered from the same injury as Miedema. Only she got injured a month earlier. Jonker has also selected Sherida Spitse from Ajax, who lives in Emmen, for the Dutch team. The half-Groningen Damaris Egurrola (Olympique Lyon) is also present.
I won’t let her down because of one mistake.
This also applies to Feyenoord goalkeeper Jacintha Weimar, who made a notable blunder on her debut in the lost match against Belgium. Jonker: “She had a very good World Cup where she showed a top level in training for eight weeks. I’m not going to let her down because of one mistake in a match. She is a great goalkeeper.”
The Dutch team will play the home match against Scotland in the NEC stadium in Nijmegen on Friday, October 27. This match starts at 8:45 PM and is sold out. The away match is scheduled for four days later, on Tuesday, October 31. It will be played at Hampden Park in Glasgow, with kick-off at 7.45 pm local time.
We have been warned
“My very first match was at home against Scotland,” says Jonker. “Then we won 2-1 in the last minutes. A few weeks ago, England won with pain and effort against Scotland. We have been warned, because it is an extremely serious opponent that we should not underestimate in any way. The goal is to win twice so that we take a good step towards winning the group.”
The 24-man selection of the Dutch team:
Marit Auée (FC Twente), Jill Baijings (FC Bayern Munich), Lineth Beerensteyn (Juventus), Esmee Brugts (FC Barcelona), Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City), Caitlin Dijkstra (FC Twente), Daphne van Domselaar (Aston Villa), Merel van Dongen (Atlético Madrid), Daniëlle van de Donk (Olympique Lyon), Damaris Egurrola (Olympique Lyon), Jackie Groenen (Paris Saint-Germain), Renate Jansen (FC Twente), Dominique Janssen (VFL Wolfsburg), Wieke Kaptein ( FC Twente), Barbara Lorsheyd (ADO Den Haag), Lieke Martens (Paris Saint-Germain), Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal), Marisa Olislagers (FC Twente), Victoria Pelova (Arsenal), Jill Roord (Manchester City), Katja Snoeijs ( Everton), Sherida Spitse (Ajax), Jacintha Weimar (Feyenoord), Lynn Wilms (VFL Wolfsburg).