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Women's Euros: Vivianne Miedema hoping to fire Holland to more glory

  /  autty

One of the many stats that illustrate the imperiousness of Vivianne Miedema is her goalscoring record for her national side.

Since making her debut for Holland in 2013, at the age of only 17, she has scored an astonishing 94 goals in 111 appearances. No player, past or present, male or female, has ever scored as many times for the Oranje.

It is no coincidence that prior to Miedema's introduction to the international stage, the Dutch women's national team had barely made a splash at any major tournament.

At the last two major tournaments, however, Holland have won one and reached the final of the other with the Arsenal forward, with Miedema scoring seven goals in all across the 2017 European Championship and the 2019 World Cup.

Far more goes into a nation being successful on the major international stage, but Miedema's presence in the Dutch set up has accelerated that and if anyone is to fire Holland to glory this summer, it will likely be her.

The Dutchwoman, by her own admission, 'doesn't like being the centre of attention'.

But it is her irrepressible goal record, both domestically in the Women's Super League for Arsenal and internationally for Holland, that means she is one of the most high profile players at this summer's Euro tournament.

As with so many of her fellow stars in the women's game, Miedema's journey has not been an easy one to the top.

Growing up in Hoogeveen, Miedema told the BBC that where she's from 'people are really down to Earth', with her coming from a 'really small', tight-knit family.

That down-to-earthness is reflected in Miedema's style on the pitch. There are very few occasions where you will see her go wild after scoring or providing a crucial assist.

Her first goal in the 4-2 win over Denmark in the final of the 2017 Euros saw her immediately run after the assist-provider, Shanice van de Sanden, as opposed to running off the opposite direction with the attention all focused on her.

'Running away from your team-mates is something I find disrespectful,' she told the Arsenal website in 2020. 'I will always celebrate with my team-mates because a goal is something you should enjoy together.'

Miedema's unselfishness as a player is something that very much defines her style. 'I'm not an out-and-out No 9, I like to think I'm a mix of a No 9 and 10,' she has said in the past.

Averaging a goal every 125 minutes for Arsenal last season, Miedema also clocked an assist every 218 minutes. That amounted to 14 goals and eight assists in an impressive season in which Arsenal challenged Chelsea to the very last day of the season for the league crown.

Last season saw her goal record fall, however, on the season prior with the number of assists she created going up. This was in part due to Jonas Eidevall, Arsenal's manager, deploying her in the number ten role on various occasions across the season.

Ironically, under the now-England coach Sarina Wiegman, who was in charge of Holland as they reached back-to-back Euros and World Cup finals, it was more likely to see Holland deploy a 4-2-3-1 shape that could more easily accommodate Miedema in the position that she has said in the past she prefers.

Under the current coach, Englishman Mark Parsons, Holland will go with a traditional 4-3-3 and Miedema will be the one leading that forward line.

It is testament to her importance that for all the wealth of attacking options for Parsons and his coaching staff, including Miedema's former Arsenal team-mates Jill Roord and Danielle van de Donk as well as Paris Saint-Germain superstar Lieke Martens, it is the country's record goal scorer, and most identifiable female player, who will not be sacrificed.

Indeed, Parsons is on record as describing how his daughter is now becoming aware of just how big a superstar Miedema is in Holland.

'She got to meet Viv and that was special,' the Holland coach said.

'She is getting older and [is sitting] in the stadium with the Dutch fans where, if Viv waves at someone, kids are fainting,' he added.

The Dutch come into the tournament this summer with an air of uncertainty. It is a similar feeling to that which surrounded the-then hosts on the eve of the last edition of this tournament, in 2017.

Not considered among the top favourites, Holland have been overlooked for that tag. It is a label that has been cast upon, almost equally, France, who they could meet in the quarter finals, and England, who they were comprehensively beaten by in a pre-Euro warm-up a matter of weeks ago.

This will likely be something that Miedema, who thrives in situations where she is unappreciated and her side are considered out of the running, thrives off.

She has regularly spoken in the past at the great pleasure she took as a young player at beating boys' teams, particularly when she felt she was underestimated by them simply because of her gender.

Speaking about one particular game in her youth career, she said: 'I do remember all of the boys crying because they were the professional club and we'd beaten them as an amateur team. That was a good feeling.'

That competitive edge and desire to win, matched with an unselfishness that often sees her put her team on her back during tough moments, has stood her in good stead so far and should prove to do so again this summer.

Some fans of the WSL have questioned Miedema's big goal record, claiming that the forward is a flat-track bully who boosts her statistics against sides that the teams she plays for should beat comfortably. One only has to look at her record in big games for Holland to cast this aspersion aside.

In the 2017 Euros, Miedema scored four times, with all of her goals coming in the quarter finals or later. This included the opener in the semi-final against England before Holland went on to win 3-0 and the crucial equaliser against the Danes in the final.

At the 2019 World Cup, Holland's talismanic figure was at it again, scoring a crucial opener late on in a nervy 2-0 win over Italy.

Meanwhile, at the Olympics, postponed from 2020 to last summer, Miedema's two goals in an agonising quarter final defeat to the USA on penalties almost navigated a path for Holland into the semi-finals.

Miedema knows the pressure and the expectation is on her shoulders, but it has been for the majority of her adult life and this is something she is adept at dealing with.

Her perspective on football is far more reaching than one typically expects from a self-confessed football addict.

'This summer is probably one of the biggest chances to put women's football on the map,' she told Uefa's website last month.

'I hate to say it, but I want to see England do well because it will get people to the stadium, it will make the country itself feel really alive.'

That unselfishness, in view of a greater game, is something that is true to Miedema until the very end. But as seen after her record-breaking goal against Cameroon in France in 2019, don't bet against her celebrating should Holland make a splash.

Related: Arsenal