As of the 20th of July, The Netherlands women’s team is one of the teams us Gooners will be following in the Women’s World Cup.
Viviene Miedema may not feature for the Dutch and will be a big miss for them. Still, Victoria Pelova, Arsenal’s excellent January signing from Ajax, who’s already emerged as a fan favourite, will feature.
Though some may look at Pelova and her teammates and fail to see them as favourites for this year’s World Cup, but they certainly aren’t rank outsiders. The Dutch believe they can win this year’s World Cup after nearly lifting it in 2019 had they not lost 2-0 in the Final, to the USWNT.
Lieke Martens, one of the Dutch women’s dependable players, feels that they owe it to their fans to make them proud with a World Cup win, a win that will crown the progress they’ve made since winning the Euros back in 2017.
“Suddenly, after the Euro win, people expect a lot from us,” Martens said as per the Guardian. “I think we dealt with that well as a team.
“We have slowly grown into it, and we are still dealing with it.
“People expect us to always be able to battle for the grand prizes, and we have given ourselves that standard. The character in the team is back, and maybe we can achieve something beautiful again at this World Cup.”
The Netherlands are in Group E alongside the United States, Vietnam and Portugal. Their first World Cup game will be against Portugal on the 23rd of July; they will then play the USA on the 27th of July, and then Vietnam on the 1st of August.
Hopefully, Pelova, who played in all six World Cup qualifiers (starting four) and has featured in all four friendlies the Dutch have played this season, will have a crucial role in her team achieving something beautiful.
Michelle Maxwell
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