Saturday 15 June 2019, 18:11

Miedema: You have to get crazy when you break a record

  • Vivianne Miedema became the Netherlands’ all-time leading markswoman

  • She uncharacteristically ‘got a little crazy’ in her celebration

  • Miedema wasn't satisfied with the Dutch performance against Cameroon

Vivianne Miedema habitually refuses to wildly celebrate her goals. Critical ones, breathtaking ones – it matters not. The introverted Netherlands striker says she prefers to “show respect to opponents when they have just conceded”.

That all went out of the window at around 16:45 local time in Valenciennes, when Miedema commemorated a goal against Cameroon by performing a forward roll.

The Arsenal player had good reason. It was her second of the game. It sealed a 3-1 victory that sent the Netherlands into the Round of 16 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™. And it made her, at the age of just 22, the Netherlands’ all-time leading markswoman, outranking Manon Melis, who got her 59th and last when she was 29.

“I think if you’re at a World Cup, scoring to make it 3-1 against Cameroon and breaking the all-time scoring record, you have to get a little crazy,” she said afterwards.

“It’s something special, something I'm only going to live once, a special experience for me. It's a World Cup – you score a goal, so I think you can cheer and be a little crazy about it. I made a deal with my brother that, when I broke it, I’d do a forward roll on the pitch.

"Everyone was talking about the record and you knew it was coming. I'm glad it happened today. Now we can try to increase that number.”

If she increases it to 100 one day, will we see another splashy celebration? “Probably not,” Miedama said, laughing. “I’m mostly just glad I can still walk after that forward roll! No more gymnastics!”

Miedema was happy to make history, and to aid a Netherlands victory, but she wasn’t satisfied with their performance.

“I'm glad we won, but it was still not good enough,” she said. “When you win, and make it six points from two games, you can be a little bit happy. But we shouldn’t have made it difficult for ourselves.”

Miedema’s superb header put the Dutch ahead, only for Cameroon to instantly equalise just before the break. Dominique Bloodworth restored the Oranjeleeuwinnen’s lead shortly after the restart, and Miedema underlined the importance of that goal.

“It was crucial,” she said. “We went 1-0 up an they equalised really quickly. But making it 2-1 right after the break made it a lot easier.

“It was a difficult match today. Cameroon played well. We didn’t have our best performance, but we’re happy to get the points and go through to the last 16.”

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