Vivianne Miedema

At 27 years old, Vivianne Miedema has this physical status:

Anna Margaretha Miedema (born 15 July 1996), also known as Vivianne Miedema ([vivi'j?n? ]) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays for FA WSL clubs Arsenal and the Netherlands women's national football team.

Both the women's and men's teams have scored more goals for the Netherlands at international level than for any other player.

Early life

Miedema was born and raised in Hoogeveen, and after five years old, she began playing herself for HZVV in her hometown. Her first memory of playing football involves her two front teeth being kicked out by a young goalkeeper at age six. She was a regular goalscorer from a young age and competed on boys' teams. When opponents booed a girl on the field, it caused her to score multiple goals, which she did often. She joined VV De Weide in 2009 and stayed with them until 2011.

Miedema, her father and younger brother Lars, would often travel 190 kilometres (120 miles) to Rotterdam in order to watch Feyenoord play. Miedema was forced to choose either to play in the best women's league or to continue playing with boys' clubs at age 14.

Personal life

Miedema is in a relationship with England footballer and Arsenal teammate Beth Mead. Miedema had been involved with Scottish footballer and ex-Arsenal teammate Lisa Evans for six years before she began working with him.

Lars, her younger brother, is also a footballer who played for FC Den Bosch as of 2020. She made a rare exception in 2019 when her brother insisted she highlight her achievements, despite her brother's insistence on overtly honoring her goals.

Miedema is a co-author of Vivianne voetbalt, a series of children's comic books starring her, written in her native Dutch language.

Miedema is enrolled in UEFA-B coaching courses. The Johan Cruyf Institute earned a master's degree in Football Management in 2021.

Miedema was appointed ambassador of War Child, a charity that assists children in war zones. Miedema joined the charity campaign Common Goal in November 2021, giving 1% of her income to community organisations working with young people. Miedema said, "I'm fortunate to be living my dream, and I feel compelled to assist others in achieving their dreams." I'm excited to join Common Goal and be able to really measure the impact I can have off the field." Common Goal's medical response to the victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in March 2022 was led by her teammate, Paulo Dybala of Juventus.

Miedema opened a Cruyf Court in Hoogeveen in September 2022, on the spot where she used to play as an infant.

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Club career

Miedema signed her first professional contract as a 14-year-old girl and found herself competing in the Eerenveen, the best Dutch women's league, with players much older than herself. She made her senior debut at 15 years old against FC Utrecht on September 2, 2011, becoming the youngest ever player in the league. She scored ten goals in 17 games for Heerenveen, the second of seven teams, in her debut season. Despite being a teenager, she has earned the honor of being the second-highest scorer in the league.

She scored 27 goals in 26 games in 2012-13 while playing in the new cross-border BeNe League. She earned the top-scoring award at the age of 17. She scored 41 goals in 26 games for Heerenveen in the 2013–14 BeNe League season. Her goal total was 15 more than the nearest player.

Various clubs inquired into signing Miedema before she agreed to a three-year deal with Bayern Munich in the top German league, the Frauen-Bundesliga, in June 2014. She was a member of a Bayern team that remained unbeaten in the Bundesliga and took the title for the first time since 1976. In a match against MSV Duisburg in which Miedema scored her first Bundesliga goals, Bayern defeated Bayern 6–0, resulting in Bayern's victory. Miedema tore the outside of her ankle during a match against SGS Essen on Friday, resulting in some time away from the pitch for the remainder of the match. She re-emerged in the German league against VfL Wolfsburg on February 22, scoring again in the following match against Bayer Leverkusen. Miedema scored 7 goals in 17 games on the season. With 14 goals in 22 matches, she helped Bayern Munich defend the title the following season.

Miedema had been dissatisfied with her first three months in Germany because she didn't know German or English. Although she beat these challenges, she became dissatisfied with Bayern's long ball tactics later. Miedema scored 14 goals in 22 appearances in the 2016–17 Frauen-Bundesliga season, but Bayern was proclaimed champions by VfL Wolfsburg. Bayern qualified to the quarter final, but Paris Saint-Germain defeated Bayern 4–1 on aggregate. She scored eight goals in the 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League. Miedema was the top scorer of the Champions League season.

In 2017, Miedema began contract negotiations with other top clubs in Europe and the United States. Although Bayern wanted to keep her, they were not prepared to break the company's wage structure. Despite leading some "tough talks" with Miedema, boss Karin Danner resigned after saying "she wanted to change and we didn't want to break our system for her in the end." Bayern has named Jill Roord and Lineth Beerensteyn as her replacements after Miedema's compatriots Jill Roord and Lineth Beerensteyn.

Miedema joined Arsenal in May 2017 and moved to the United Kingdom. In the match against Everton in the 23rd minute, she scored her first goal in the FA Women's Super League (FA WSL) for Arsenal on October 29th. She scored the game-opening goal in the 29th minute and gave Arsenal the assistance to Dominique Janssen's goal in the 49th minute, giving Arsenal a 3–0 victory. Miedema finished the 2017–18 season with four goals in 11 games, including 9 in the first round. Arsenal finished third in third place during the regular season with an 11–3–4 record. Miedema scored the game-winning goal of the final in a 1–0 victory over Manchester City, and the club also won the 2017-18 FA WSL Cup.

Arsenal defeated Liverpool 5–0 in the first match of the 2018-19 season. Miedema scored a hat-trick. With a brace against Bristol City in a 4–0 victory, she brought her goals tally into double digits. Miedema was named PFA Women's Player of the Year and spent 22 goals in the WSL over the course of the year. Arsenal's 20–2–0 record placed first in the regular season, marking the first time the club had clinched the trophy since 2012.

Miedema scored four goals in Arsenal's 5–2 victory over Slavia Praha in the 2019-20 UEFA Women's Champions League on October 16, 2019. She was nominated for the Ballon d'Or Féminin in 2019, in which she placed fifth place.

She scored 16 goals in 14 games during the 2019-2020 season. Miedema was instrumental in Arsenal's victory over Bristol City on December 1, 2019 – out of 11 goals scored by the club against Bristol City, she scored six goals and set up four others. The 11th was the only one she was not directly involved in; she was not on the field when it was scored. The FA suspended the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which made the decision based on points per game. Arsenal finished in third place with a 12–3–0 record and played in the 2019-20 FA WSL Cup, where they lost 2–1 to Chelsea in the 2020 FA Women's League Cup Final.

Miedema scored 50 WSL goals on October 18, breaking Nikita Parris' all-time league record of 49 for her hat-trick victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Ellen White, a footballer from Manchester City, became the all-time record goal scorer, scoring 55 times to Miedema's 54. Miedema won again on March 7th after scoring 56 times. Miedema's first 52 WSL goals she scored 34 times with her right foot, 14 with her left, and 4 headers. There were no goals on the penalty sheet. On average, she scored once every 83 minutes, compared to Parris' 171 minutes.

Miedema scored her 100th goal for Arsenal Women in a 4–0 victory over Slavia Prague in the Women's Champions League qualifier on September 9, 2021. To reach this milestone, Miedema only needed 110 games in all competitions. After scoring against Manchester United in November 2021, she became the first player in the WSL to score against every team they have faced.

Miedema announced that her contract with Arsenal had been extended until May 2022. She had held talks with Barcelona Femena and Paris Saint-Germain Féminine, who had been interested in signing her. She said winning titles with Arsenal would be more to her than joining a team that was already winning titles. The remunition of her new role made her England's highest-paid female player.

International career

Miedema scored six goals against Montenegro and eight against Kazakhstan in the 2013 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification mini tournament, breaking the records for the Netherlands women's national under-17 football team. The eight goals in the 15-0 victory over Kazakhstan set a new record for goals in a single game, with four more goals in the upcoming match against Ukraine making her the all-time UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship top scorer. In her 11 appearances between October 2011 and October 2012, she scored a total of 22 goals for the under-17s.

Miedema made her debut for the Netherlands women's national under-19 football team on March 6, 2013, defeating Iceland 3–1. She was instrumental in the Netherlands' triumph at the 2014 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, scoring six goals in the tournament that helped the Netherlands win their first-ever women's football title. She scored a hat-trick in the 4–0 semi-final victory over the Republic of Ireland, and was the only goal in the final victory over Spain. She won the Golden Player Award by UEFA to the tournament's top scorer by a margin of four goals, as well as the Best Player award by UEFA to the best player of the tournament. She completed her under-19 national team career with seven goals out of ten appearances.

Miedema made her debut for the Netherlands women's national football team on September 26, 2013. In a 4–0 victory over Albania in Tirana, she was an 84th-minute replacement for Lieke Martens in a 5–0 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification. In the Netherlands' 7-0 victory over Portugal one month later, she scored her first goals at the international level, a 16-minute hat-trick, a first-time hat-trick.

Miedema was instrumental in the Netherlands' World Cup qualification play-off win over Scotland in October 2014. In the first leg at Tynecastle Stadium, Scotland goalkeeper Gemma Fay deflected her long-range shot before Martens converted the rebound. After Miedema was fouled by Frankie Brown inside the box, the Dutch were given a penalty kick. Manon Melis led the Dutch to a 2–1 victory ahead of the second leg in Rotterdam on Monday.

Miedema scored all of the Dutch goals against Italy in the final qualification play-off as the Netherlands defeated 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. She finished as the top scorer in the qualification tournament with 16 goals. Miedema's "killer instinct" was lauded by coach Roger Reijners. Despite being young, she was widely praised as "the most gifted striker in Europe" ahead of the Netherlands' first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup appearance. Her 16 goals during the qualifying tournament tied Adriana Martn's previous European record and established Miedema as the seventh-highest goalscorer in UEFA women's national team competitions.

Miedema had migraines and an injured foot in the finals in Canada. Despite the high hopes, Miedema's was unable to reproduce her pre-tournament form and fell short of scoring when the Netherlands advanced to the round of 16 by finishing third in their group and losing 2–1. She was dissatisfied with a lack of service that had reduced her chances to score. Miedema said the heat at the 2015 World Cup felt "crazy," and she was grateful that other talented Dutch players had emerged afterward to distract some of the spotlight away from her. Following the 2015 World Cup finals, she nearly dropped professional football in 2022.

She continued to excel under pressure in the hosts' 3–0 semi-final victory over England during the 2017 UEFA Women's European Championship, scoring a goal. Miedema scored two goals in the final against Denmark, which was enough to win the Dutch their first-ever Euro championship. The whole team was honoured by Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister of Sport Edith Schippers and was made Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau after the tournament.

Miedema scored her 60th goal in the Netherlands women's national football team's 3–1 victory over Cameroon on June 15, 2019. She beat Melis' record and extended her advantage over Robin van Persie, the team's top scorer. She scored both goals during the Netherlands' 2–0 quarter-final victory over Italy and led the Dutch team to its first-ever World Cup semi-final appearance. Miedema's play throughout the tournament was instrumental in the Netherlands' passage to the final, where they lost 2–0 to the defending champions of the United States.

Miedema set a new Olympic record by scoring ten goals in four matches at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 2021. She scored four against Zambia and two each against Brazil and China in group matches. Miedema scored both Dutch goals in the quarter-final against the Netherlands, her 100th match for the Netherlands. Alyssa Naeher, a goalkeeper in the United States, saved Miedema's penalty and the Dutch were eliminated.

Miedema took over the captaincy after Sari van Veenendaal was forced to leave the field injured in the first match at the 2022 European Championships in England against Sweden. Miedema was unable to participate in the next two group stage matches due to a COVID-19 infection outbreak. In the quarter-final match against France, the Netherlands lost 1–0, she wore the captain's armband again.

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