FOOTBALL – Vivianne Miedema missed the Golden Ball in Paris tonight. The striker from Hoogeveen finished eleventh in the election of the best women’s football player of the past season. FC Barcelona player Alexia Putellas was voted the winner of the prestigious football award.
During the previous edition, the Spanish also took home the Ballon d’Or Féminin. Then Miedema became fourth in the ranking.
It was expected that Miedema would go home empty-handed again, because she is not having her best season. For example, the European Championship adventure with the Orange Women ended in the quarterfinals, where opponent France settled in the extension with the team of now former national coach Mark Parsons. For her club Arsenal she was extremely accurate with 25 goals in 26 matches.
Miedema was the only Dutch nominee among the twenty contenders. Lieke Martens still participated last year. The Paris Saint-Germain winger then finished sixth.
Winner Putellas had a very good season at FC Barcelona, but suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury a day before the start of the tournament. As a result, she will probably not play again this season. “My recovery is going well. It’s a long process that I have to go through,” she said, after which the 28-year-old received applause from the audience.