VIVIANNE MIEDEMA could only have dreamt as a youngster that she would one day storm past her childhood hero, Robin van Persie, as Holland’s all-time top scorer.
The Dutch star has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the game, lifting major trophies with Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Holland, before becoming the WSL’s record goal-scorer.
Vivianne Miedema won the WSL title with Arsenal in 2019Credit: Getty Images – Getty
Fans probably didn’t expect Miedema to become the league’s most prolific striker after she arrived in England from Bavaria as a fresh faced 20-year-old back in 2017.
But it has taken her just FOUR seasons to make history.
She became the top-flight’s record goal-scorer after hitting a hat-trick against Tottenham last time out, taking her tally to 52 goals in just 50 games.
The striker glided past former record-holder, Nikita Parris, who found the net 49 times in 110 matches for Manchester City and Everton.
When she reached the milestone she cracked a rare smile, having often been branded as “ice-cold” by fans for not being one to overly celebrate when she scores.
And at last year’s World Cup in France, Miedema gave fans another glimpse of her funner side.
She celebrated with a cheeky roly-poly after becoming her country’s all-time top scorer by taking her tally to 60 with two goals against Cameroon.
She said at the time: “It’s a special moment and I made a deal with my brother to make a roll on the pitch.
“Maybe that won’t happen again next time. No more gymnastics!”
She overtook Manon Melis’ 59 and was already dwarfing the men’s record holder and her idol Van Persie, with his 50 goals.
THE MAKING OF MIEDEMA
The strike sensation grew up in a family of football nuts, in Hoogeveen, a town in the north-east of the Netherlands.
Miedema, her father and younger brother Lars would make the 120-mile road trip to Rotterdam to watch their beloved Feyenoord play, when a young Van Persie was just starting out.
Vivianne Miedema met Robin Van Persie when he played for FeyenoordCredit: Instagram @ viviannemiedema
Miedema is close to her brother Lars, who plays for FC Den BoschCredit: Instagram @ viviannemiedema
But her wardrobe soon became filled with Arsenal shirts when her hero moved to the Gunners in 2004.
She told the What The Football podcast: “When I grew up he (Van Persie) was my idol,
“I overtook him as top goal scorer for the nation.
“It was amazing he actually sent me a video and all that it was really cool.
“He was just amazing, that’s the type of number nine I want to be.
“Im a Feyenoord fan in Holland but with Van Persie going to Arsenal I’ve actually been an Arsenal fan.
“I was an Arsenal fan when I was younger , I had all the shirts.”
Miedema now shares the Gunners’ training ground with the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Hector Bellerin.
She told SunSport: “Everyone knows I’ve always been a Van Persie fan he was a big hero here In England as well and so I love players like him.
“Obviously you look at the strikers, I love Lacazette. I love the way he wants to play and he wants to involve other people in his game,
“Aubamerang scores a goal almost every week. When Lacazette was injured he would always come in the gym and ask how we are doing.
“A couple of the girls have got a contact with Bellerin so it’s really open, he’s lovely with the girls and really nice.”
COUPLE GOALS
Viv and her long-term girlfriend, Lisa Evans, hit it off during their time together at Bayern Munich.
When recently asked by broadcaster, Shebahn Aherne, how they met, Viv joked: “It was all me, Oktoberfest works miracles, lets just keep it there!”
Scotland international, Lisa, replied: “I’m a light weight so wouldn’t be surprised!”
The pair lifted the 2015/16 Bundesliga trophy together and celebrated with Bayern men, who also won the title that year, on the Rathaus balcony in Munich city centre.
Miedema and Evans were dressed in traditional German dresses known as, dirndl, while rubbing shoulders with the likes of Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben.
The couple switched allegiances to Arsenal in the summer of 2017.
The North London stars have been joined at the hip ever since, and Miedema has even developed a trademark Scottish twang to her accent.
They recently brought a new place together and were shacked up in Evans’ parents house in Scotland over lockdown.
Vivianne Miedema met long-term partner Lisa Evans at Bayern Munich, where they lifted the 2015/16 Bundesliga trophy together
Viv and Lisa Evans have been heroes at Arsenal since 2017Credit: Instagram @ viviannemiedema
TROPHY CABINET
The Holland striker quickly became a hero at Arsenal, helping them to their first top-flight trophy in SEVEN years in 2019, as the WSL top-scorer that season.
Miedema’s scintillating form led her to be named the PFA Player of the Year alongside Virgil Van Dijk that year.
The Dutch pair made history after becoming the first players from the same country to win the award in the same year.
Miedema has become an icon in her country and is mobbed by fans even when she’s just stopping in the pub for a low key pint with her pals.
The striker was also nominated for the Ballon d’Or in 2019 after finding the net a record 22 times in the league that campaign.
Fans claimed she was “robbed” after USA superstar Megan Rapinoe clinched the award.
Vivianne Miedema and Virgil Van Dijk were the first players from the same country to win PFA Player of the Year in the same yearCredit: PA:Press Association
But Miedema isn’t one for awards ceremonies in glitzy locations.
She told SunSport at the time: “I don’t really follow any of these things on Twitter, so it was probably one of the girls in the team who texted me like ‘oh congratulations’.
“I’m just focused on what we do as a team and then obviously if something individual comes up, it is quite special,
“But I’m just not really bothered or completely over the moon about it.”
By the age of 23 she had won three league titles in two different countries, lifted a European trophy in 2017 and reached a World Cup final last year.
Miedema’s mouth-watering form over the years has led to fans piling on serious pressure.
The Arsenal legend admitted on the What The Football podcast: “In the Covid period not having the football pressure was actually really nice.
“You didn’t have that feeling like oh I need to perform on a Sunday morning.
“I was like worrying if I was going to eat black pudding or square sausage for breakfast instead of like ‘oh I need to turn up for this game!'”
Watch Vivianne Miedema kick a ball over her head and perfectly into a basketball hoop
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
