18 year old Spanish footballer, currently playing for Barcelona Femeni.

At the beginning I want to mention that if I’m being honest, writing an article about such a young player is a bit of a challenge for me. My previous articles are about players already experienced on the pitch, about players who have already won quite a lot of titles in their career. Meanwhile, Claudia Pina doesn’t have a lush football career (yet), hence writing about her may be a bit more difficult. Nevertheless, she is already a player who shows great maturity and experience on the field. This may sound a bit paradoxical because she is only 18 years old, but her playing on the pitch is dripping with maturity. Claudia Pina is a great young talent of Spanish football and I think that many people aren’t aware of this. I noticed Pina for the first time when she was still playing for Spain U17 team. It only took me a moment to realize that I have a material for a world-class player right in front of my eyes.

Let’s start from the beginning – club career

Claudia Pina was formerly a futsal player, before being discovered by Espanyol’s scouts. She joined their youth team in 2011 at the age of 11. She moved to Barcelona’s youth team from Espanyol in 2013. In Barcelona she began to stand out. Because how else can you describe Claudia Pina’s achievement. In her second season, Claudia Pina helped the team to win the youth league championship by scoring 100 goals in her 20 appearances. 100 goals, in 20 apps , in only one single season. After proving herself as a technically gifted player and a natural goalscorer she quickly progressed through the different ranks of the youth team. Her impressive achievement didn’t go unnoticed, she was called up to the senior team’s squad for pre-season. Pina made her first official appearance for the senior team in January 2018. Being only 16 years and 5 months old at the time, she set the record as the youngest player to have ever played for a senior Barca team in an official match.

International career

Claudia Pina received her first call-up for the national U-16 team at the age of 14. In September 2016 she was invited for the first time to play for Spanish U-17 national team in a UEFA tournament in Příbram (Czech Republic) where she scored 5 goals including a hat-trick in her debut match. She later played her first official game for the Spanish U-17 national team in 2016 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Jordan. She scored a goal in her first appearance against hosts, Jordan. Spain ended third, Pina finished tournament with 2 goals on her account. Claudia Pina was part of the Spanish team during the 2017 UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship held in Czech Republic. Spain finished the tournament as runner-ups, losing to Germany in the final after penalty shootouts. Pina scored 2 goals during this championships and was chosen to Team of the Tournament. On 2nd of October 2017 she scored eight times as Spain beat Montenegro 22-0 in a  Women’s U17 EURO qualifier. At the end of 2017 her name was announced as the top UEFA national-team goal scoring player among both female and male players, scoring 16 goals during the year. In November 2018 during the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay she showed everyone what she can do. Spain didn’t have much trouble getting through the group stage. Two confidently won matches, 4: 0 against South Korea – Pina scored 2 goals and a 5: 0 victory against Canada – Pina with one goal. The Spanish drew only 1: 1 against Colombia, but 7 points gave them first place in the group and a certain promotion to the knockout stage. In the quarterfinals Spain played a match against very demanding North Korea team. In regular time the match ended with the result 1: 1, Claudia scored a goal for her team. Spain won the game after penalty shooutouts. In the semi-final Spain defeated New Zealand 2: 0, Pina scored one of the goals. In the final, Claudia Pina summarized the great tournament for her national team and for herself individually. She led Spain to victory by scoring both goals in a winning 2-1 final match against Mexico. Spain won the title of world champion. Pina scored 7 goals during the tournament, won a silver shoe and was chosen the best player in the tournament. And this leads us to an achievement that cannot be skipped. Pina’s goalscoring record at youth level for Spain’s women across age groups – 37 goals in 39 appearances. A star is born.

2019/2020 season

During 2019/2020 Reto Iberdrola season (the second level of league competition for Spanish women’s football) Claudia Pina started in 16 games for Barca Femeni B. She has scored 15 goals from 1392 minutes she has played. She has contributed 24.6% goals from the total 61 goals Barca Femeni B scored during the season. Although she doesn’t get too many minutes to play in the first team, so in the reserve team she is a key player and her impact on the team’s achievements is priceless. As you can clearly see, Claudia Pina scored almost a quarter of the number of goals the team scored. These numbers are respectable. Summarizing her performances in the first team, Pina has played 228 minutes across all competitions. – 65 mins in the Champions League, 20 mins in Queen’s Cup, 68 mins in Copa Catalunya and 75 minutes in Primera División.
It’s worth mentioning that Claudia Pina scored two goals in the friendly game, when Arsenal Women’s team faced Barcelona Femeni in pre-season. The game was played at Meadow Park – Arsenal home ground – on 14th of August 2019, Claudia Pina entered the pitch as a substitute and scored twice, one of these goals was a stunner.

The Spanish wonderkid

Claudia Pina is definitely a future of Spanish women’s football. Despite her young age, she is already a forward with great technique and dribbling ability. I guess we can call her a wonderkid. The Barcelona forward has composure and confidence to show her playing ability. She has an eye for goal – you can’t learn it, you’re just born with things like that. There is no doubt that Pina will mark her regular presence in the Barcelona’s first team. It’s a matter of when, rather than if. Time will tell. But you don’t have to convince me, because Claudia Pina has already convinced me to do so with the first touch of the ball from her during the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2018. She has a high sense of awareness on the pitch and she always search for free spaces on the pitch. For such a young age, she has an amazing ability to find herself in the penalty area – she’s a two footed striker with an impressive nose for goal. The ball is just looking for her every time. Such a skill is not obvious at her age. I will emphasize this because she is young and already has it which is very special. She is not such an experienced player because she is just at the beginning of her career, but she already has such skills. On the pitch, she is a very composed player, she has such inner peace and she doesn’t panic. Claudia Pina is not afraid to take responsibility on her shoulders and this once again proves her great maturity. Why do I talk about it and emphasize it all the time? Because young players are in the process of learning certain things and football behaviors, they’re not the veterans of football pitch yet. Youth players are just in that process of forming themselves as self-confident and aware players. And in Claudia Pina I noticed features such as these mentioned, already in 2018, during that FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay, a quick reminder – she was only 16 years old at that time. Let the confirmation of my words be her first goal in the final against Mexico during this tournament. She mastered the upper ball in the penalty area very precisely, quickly moved the ball to the left foot and hit it from the ground placing the ball in the back of the net. It seems nothing special, but for such things, with a match of this rank and in such pressure, you need to have confidence, you need to have steel nerves – she has it. Let’s take one more moment to talk about this tournament – 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Championship – first match of group D, when Spain played against Republic of Korea. The first goal for Spain – Claudia Pina took an advantage of opponent players error and scored a goal, showing her pitch intelligence. No hesitation, just an eye for goal. Second goal – she got a ball in the penalty area from right wing, despite the outnumber of the Koreans in the penalty box, she took advantage of their mistake again – they left too much space for her – she hit the rocket right in the top right corner of the goal.

Youthful joy of playing football

But what is extremely important in the context of young players who are just entering the great world of football – the joy of playing football, the satisfaction of it. I think Claudia Pina knows something about it. I’m sure that whoever follows her performances has seen the goal she scored against Espanyol on January 2017. This goal trended across the Internet. Claudia Pina took the ball from the halfway line and dribbled through four players, then she made a powerful strike from the edge of the box. A manifestation of the indisputable football genius, but also the fact that football is not only about tactics, schemes, statistics, but moreover, football is a freedom in self-expression on the pitch. She just took the ball and was carried away by the moment when thanks to her confidence she found the way to the goal in a situation in which many would not even take risks and try. Pina has that ease, calm and above all she has this youthful fantasy and joy. It is pretty visible that she truly enjoys the game, she likes to have the ball next to her foot (this is probably a feature of all Spanish players), but at the same time she is also a very team player. Claudia Pina regularly performs in Barcelona Femení B team, which is it is the reserve team of FC Barcelona women. She plays as a number 10, which means she’s a playmaker or an attacking midfielder. But what is important to mention that for her national team, she plays mainly as number 9 or false 9. She’s very intelligent on the pitch. She is an offensive player and the fact that she can play as central forward or as central attacking midfielder, certainly works in her favor. This definitely makes her an universal and versatile player, and this is undoubtedly important in the context of her further football development. Her movements on the pitch are thoughtful and harmonious, it is delightful to see her constantly looking for free spaces on the pitch. Claudia position herself, receives the ball, passes it back, and immediately frees herself to show up in a position to create chances. She has the position awareness and the ability to quickly assess the situation. At such a young age, it really makes her unique.

The engine of the team

I’ve seen some of Pina’s matches in Barca Femeni B. This girl forms the engine of the team. She is so simple with her actions on the pitch, but at the same time so creative. In the match with CD Parquesol she also showed her versatility. In the 8th minute of the match she started the goal action of her team and in a few second later she finished it. She pulled away from her offensive position, dropped down to Barca’s half the pitch to get the ball. She received a pass from the defender, deceived the opponent with a body balance and freed herself from the opponent, with one pass she sped the team’s action and immediately ran after the action into the opponent’s penalty box. The ball got perfectly to where she was in the penalty area, Claudia Pina scored a goal, Claudia Pina, who started the action of her team and finished it. Watching these matches, I also noticed a feature that the best football virtuosos have – assessing the situation before getting the ball. Pina, while expecting a pass, looks over her shoulder to assess the position of her opponents. She is a step ahead of the opponent because she knows exactly what to do with the ball before she even gets it. Of course, it can be said that this is nothing special, but I will say it again, if she already has so good attributes on the pitch at such young age, then in a few years, when she gains experience, she will be the football maestro. We can only follow her development and wait until she reaches the top.

Claudia Pina is young, promising talent and I hope that no coach, or team that has or will have this girl beneath their wings in the future, will not waste her talent. At the age of 18 she is a very mature footballer, if she can develop as she should, there is no doubt that she will be a world-class player. Claudia Pina is the type of player whose actions on the pitch can be watched with great pleasure. Irreproachable technique, joy, sense of awareness and teamwork are what characterizes Claudia. Are we looking at the future captain of the first Barcelona team? I don’t know, probably yes, but what I do know is that a star is being born right in front of our eyes. Let’s hope that thanks to hard work and continuous development, she will reach the top. I’ve been following the career of this girl for several years, I’m convinced that step by step, she will climb to the top of the mountain, from which she will watch the world alongside the other best football players in the world. She is the future of women’s football.

27 year old Danish professional footballer. She plays for Vfl Wolfsburg and Denmark women’s national football team.

Pernille Harder started playing football at the age of 5 for the club called Tulstrup – Faurholt IK . She played there from 1997 to 2005. After that she joined FC Ikast where she spent 2 years. In 2007 she moved to Team Viborg and played there for 3 years. She continued her senior career in IK Skovbakken in Elitedivisionen ( the highest- level league for women’s football clubs in Denmark). She appeared in 27 games and scored 22 goals for IK Skovbakken. She signed for Linköpings in June 2012. Pernille Harder chose Swedish club for two reasons. First of all, she wanted a new challenge, secondly she didn’t want to leave Scandinavia, she wanted to stay here. As a young player, she developed from season to season at Linköpings. In the 2015 Damallsvenskan (is the highest division of women’s football in Sweden) season she scored 17 goals in 22 games for her team. She has also won Forward of the Year award and League Player of the Year award. At the annual awards gala she was described as „world class” and „hyper – talented” player. I think we can’t argue with that, she really is a world class player. Pernille Harder was fantastic in the Swedish league and it didn’t go unnoticed. She was voted Danish Football Player of the Year in 2015. Awards and successes didn’t make her loosen up. Quite the opposite, she proved that she was a world-class player. Even more successes came in the 2016 Damallsvenskan season. Pernille received the League Player of the Year award. Her 23 league goals lead her to the Top Goalscorer award and her team won the championship title. It’s not surprising that clubs from the world top of women’s football began to be interested in her. Harder was an accomplished and quite experienced footballer before she moved to Germany. She scored 85 goals in 109 matches in all competitions during her five seasons in Sweden. In December 2016 she announced that she had signed a contract with Vfl Wolfsburg. In Wolfsburg she proved that her successes from Sweden weren’t a coincidence, it was a combination of hard work and unquestionable talent. She won Bundesliga 3 times in a row with Vfl Wolfsburg in the seasons: 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19. Also in each of these seasons she triumphed in DFB Pokal. One of the things that is missing in the already substantial collection of her titles is winning the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Closest to this title, Pernille was in the 17/18 season when Vfl Wolfsburg reached the final where they lost after a very exciting match against Olympique Lyonnais (Pernille scored a goal). Vfl Wolfsburg finished as a runners-up. On 14th of February 2020, exactly three years and two days after her first appearance for the club, Pernille Harder played her 100th competitive game for Vfl Wolfsburg. It was the time to celebrate this special day. Although it could be said that for her this day was like any other day. She woke up in the morning, she arrived at the stadium, played a match and scored two goals. A routine. We just have to agree that her statistics are simply impressive. So far, for three seasons in Wolfsburg, she has played 100 games in which she has scored 93 goals.

Speaking about international career

Pernille Harder’s journey with the national team began in 2007. Of course, it started with youth teams. She was a part of the Denmark team who played at the inaugural 2008 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. In October 2009, she scored a hat-trick in her senior international debut. Denmark won 15:0 over Georgia. Pernille was only 16 years old that time. Pernille began scoring regularly for her national team. She scored a hattrick in two qualifying matches for UEFA Women’s Euro 2013, against Austria and Armenia. Later she also added a hattrick in a friendly match against Russia. With 9 goals in her account she became the team’s top goalscorer in these qualifying matches. Her goals helped Denmark qualify for the tournament. She began to grow into the key figure of her team, which didn’t go unnoticed, she was called up to the Danish team at UEFA Women’s Euro 2013. In this tournament, Denmark went all the way to the semi-final, where they lost after penalties against Norway. On 26th of October 2013 Pernille made her 50th appearance for the national team. Denmark played the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying match against Serbia. In March 2016, Harder was named as a captain of the national team. In 2017, Pernille Harder was named in Denmark squad for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017. Pernille captained the team to the final. In the final against hosts, the Netherlands, she showed off her skills, her solo rally on the right wing ended with a precise shot, giving Denmark the equalizer. The final eventually ended with Netherlands victory, but in this tournament Harder proved and showed many people that she is a player from the world top. After the Euro’s she admitted that this tournament was a great experience and that they did a lot for football in Denmark. She said: „It was incredible to see the difference in Denmark before we went and when we came back. Before they knew about us but when we came home the whole of Denmark knew about us and respected us. It was not like ‘Oh, women play football, it became cool for a little girl to play football and that’s important.”

Pernille Harder definitely is a versatile player. She has an incredible vision of the game and passing ability. One of her biggest advantages is her positioning and movement between the lines. You can’t miss it watching her games. She has that impressive ability to find space and utilize it efficiently. Pernille often drops deep from her original position to get more and more involved in Wolfsburg’s build-up play. Even though she has an opponent’s player nearby her, she looks like it doesn’t bother her at all, she frees herself from her opponent’s pressing with surprising ease. Her movement on the pitch is well thought out. What impress me the most about Pernille is her pitch intelligence. What I mean by „pitch intelligence”? Well, I’ve seen a lot of Pernille’s games. On the pitch, she’s always watching the match unfold. She’s constantly looking over her shoulder and forward again, locating the space and adapting her positioning. Constantly moving and adapting to the game. This is not often noticed, but these are the details that make her one of the best. She’s a virtuoso and the focal point for both club and country. Pernille is one of those players who makes this game look simple. We can definitely call her one of the most complete women’s footballer in the world. She is a very strong player, physically well-built, hence she can shield the ball well. On the pitch, it is quite visible that she is also a very hard-working player. She’s working hard for the team, especially on winning back possession. Off the ball, Harder sometimes press low-block teams trying to catch them off guard. She can be found anywhere from left-wing to central midfield looking to find chance to create a goal-scoring opportunity. What makes her even more special? Her attacking abilities. Her ability to find and use space to attack. She is a creative and intelligent striker who relies on great positioning, passing and extraordinary instinct in scoring goals. She is capable of playing in multiple different positions, Pernille can easily play as a number ‚9 or ’10’. Being able to play in different positions gives her an advantage and makes her priceless for the team. Harder is excellent ball-player, but her off the ball intelligence is equally impressive. Being a versatile player makes her an asset for the team and whether she plays as a number ‘9’ or ‘10’, Harder looks to drop into a deeper position to find space to affect play. She’s often the main link between midfield and attack even though her primary position is that of a striker. Her attributes are link-up play and technical skills. Playing similar to a false nine, Harder drops into midfield to collect possession and turn to pass through the defence to her teammates. She can play as a midfielder, she can play as a forward. Regardless of where she is on the pitch, Pernille is always a big threat to opponents. She is distinguished by extraordinary freedom in dribbling, it looks like she is dancing with the ball at her foot among opponents. Her style of play mesmerizes. It draws you in. Pernille Harder is a priceless player for both Vfl Wolfsburg and Denmark. Thanks to her versatility, she gives her team so many options in attack. When it comes to finishing, when she has to face the goalkeeper, she is very calm, she does it with cold blood and precision. Harder also impresses with a sense of awareness on the pitch and quick-thinking in making decisions. She gets the ball and knows what she wants to do with it, whether to start a 1 in 1 duel, getting into dribbling, or to pass the ball on the wing or to play on one contact with a teammate. She’s also very good in one-two passing during counter-attacks. Pernille knows perfectly when to change the pace of the game. Sometimes you would like to compare her to a conductor. She conducts and the team follows her.

Pernille Harder grew up in Ikast, a town with a population of just 15,000 people. The road to success, the road to professional football had to be a bit difficult for her. But she herself admits that when she was a young girl, she had the feeling that she has some talent. She felt it from an early age: „I don’t know how old I was but I felt quite early I was maybe a little bit better than the other girls in my team. I wrote something at school when you were asked about what you want to do in life. I think I was maybe 10 and I wrote I wanted to be a professional footballer in Germany and play for Denmark. „ And see where she is now. As a young girl she was aware of her talent, as a young girl she had a dream and this dream combined with hard work led her to where she is now. I don’t want to repeat myself, but I think we know what I’m talking about. These factor led her to the global top of women’s football. This is a beautiful example, Pernille Harder has proved that it is worth having dreams and following them. In one of the interviews given to british newspaper, The Guardian, in 2018, she herself admitted: „I always dreamed of being one of the biggest players.” In the same year, she was voted the best player in an annual global ranking: The 100 Best Female Footballers In The World 2018. Harder was named UEFA’s Player of the Year for 2018 after another stellar. And what has influenced her success is also her character. This character is perfectly visible on the pitch. She is always determined, she always fights and you can see that football gives her great joy. What can be read from her face and body posture is her confidence. Confidence and constant hunger for victory. Pernille Harder is an experienced player and certainly a very successful player. She is a recognizable figure in the world of women’s football. But that didn’t change her as a person, as she says: “I’m down to earth. I love to be with my family and friends. I like to have fun, laugh a lot and do crazy stuff sometimes but I’m really down to earth. That’s the way my family have brought me up.” Harder’s talent and reputation have made her a role model for young girls growing up all around the world. And she said multiply times that it is very important to her: “I enjoy it. It’s such a good thing we can idols for girls and boys. It doesn’t have to be Messi or the idols I had. They were men’s players but now we can be idols too and that’s really cool.”

Pernille Harder is an undoubted football role model for young girls. But not only on the pitch. Also off the pitch. In my opinion, it is very important in today’s world for kids and young people to have people who are their authorities, who through their actions encourage others to do something good for the benefit of people and the world. Pernille Harder is involved in efforts to level out social inequalities and fight against discrimination in football. In 2019 Harder decided to donate 1% of their annual salary to Play Proud, which is an initiative that helps coaches and mentors to establish safe spaces and guides LGBTQ+ adolescents to participate in sports at the youth-level with confidence. The enormity of team and individual achievements could have changed her, make her looking at other people with superiority. But it didn’t happen. Pernille Harder keeps both feet on the ground, she definitely is down-to-earth. Pernille is a world football star. But in all this fame, she still remains herself, she is authentic. She always finds time for fans for a photo or to give an autograph – she’s so human and modest. A born leader.

22 year old English footballer. She currently plays for Arsenal and England women’s national football team

Club career
Leah Williamson joined Arsenal Ladies Centre of Excellence in 2006 as a nine-year-old. She made her senior team debut on 30th of March 2014 in UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final game against Birmingham City. Arsenal lost 0:2, Leah came as a substitution in 81st minute of the game. 17 days after that, she made her FA WSL debut, it was the game against Notts County on 16th of April 2014. She didn’t have to wait long for her first major title with Arsenal. They won in the 2014 Women’s FA Cup final against Everton on 1st of June, Leah changed Jade Bailey in the 76th minute of the match. On July 13, she scored her first goal for the team in a 4:0 win against Millwall Lionesses in the League Cup. On 4th of September she scored her first league goal for Arsenal. It’s worth adding that it was a match against Chelsea, it must’ve been very special feeling to score in the London derby. In her first season with the senior team she made 12 appearances in the 2014 FA Women’s Super League. At the end of the 2014 season, she was named the League Cup Player of the Year. She was ahead of Ji So-yun from Chelsea and Toni Duggan from Manchester City, who – let’s be honest – are quite well-known names in English women’s football.
On 8th of January 2015, Leah won the England Women’s Youth Player of the Year award. On 31st of March, right before the start of the 2015 FA Women’s Super League, Williamson signed her first professional contract with Arsenal. In April she was named the 2014–15 PFA Young Women’s Player of the Year. She scored her first goal of the season in a 3:0 win over Watford in the League Cup on 23rd of July 2015. She was a key player in the club’s very successful League Cup campaign, after the quarter-final win (1:0 on 1st of October) over Manchester City. Leah Williamson helped her team reach the final of the 2016 FA Cup where Arsenal won 1:0 over Chelsea. However, Arsenal’s way to the final was a really difficult journey. In 5th round, 1:1 draw against Birmingham City, promotion after a penalty win 5:3. And 6th round, game against Notts County ended with a draw 2:2, promotion after penalty win 5:4. In the semi-final a strong 7:0 win over Sunderland (I feel sorry for Beth Mead). But in the final, held on May 14 at Wembley, Arsenal deservedly won the title after an amazing goal by Danielle Carter in the 18th minute of the match. What a goal it was.
Williamson played the whole 90 mins in the 2017-18 FA WSL Cup Final, in which Arsenal beat Man City 1:0 after Vivianne Miedema’s goal. However, Arsenal’s league campaign ended with quite a disappointment. The team finished the season in third place, one point behind Manchester City, therefore they didn’t qualify for the Champions League. What’s worth adding, Leah Williamson started the season in midfield, but in December 2017 new manager – Joe Montemurro – switched her to central defense. Leah made a comment on the new coach’s decision, she said: „I’m not sure in the long term and I never want to shut the door on either position, because I know I can do both. But I’m enjoying playing as a centre back with the way we play. Under Joe we want to play out from the back and that suits my qualities. At the minute I’m enjoying playing at centre half, but I’m open minded about what the future holds.„
On 14th of October 2018 Arsenal made a huge step in their title challenge with a big 5:0 win over champions -Chelsea. It was the first Chelsea’s home defeat since July 2016.  Arsenal won their first 9 games and went into the match with Manchester City 6 points clear of their title rivals. 13th of January 2019 was a special day for Leah, the league match against Chelsea was her 100th appearance for Arsenal. She achieved it at the age of 21, which is admirable.  On 23th of February Arsenal lost against Man City in the FA WSL Continental Cup Final( 4:2 on penalties). Back in the league, Arsenal won 3 games in a row, scoring 10 goals while conceding none. The team won another four games in a row to clinch the title with a 4:0 win over Brighton on 28th of April 2019. Williamson was typically modest in her own performance in the title clinching match: „I think that might be the worst I’ve ever played for the club and it’s because of how much this game and this title means to me. That’s something I’ll learn from, but I won’t apologise for feeling that way.” In the title winning season 2018/19, the most common passing duo was Williamson to Evans (centre back to right wing back). Leah finished the season as Arsenal’s most active player on the ball with 1,501 touches. Moreover, she completed the most successful passes in the opposition’s half (591). She also made more interceptions than any other player in Arsenal’s squad (30).

Speaking about Leah Williamson’s international career…
Williamson has represented England since 2010 at youth levels. She captained England women’s national U-17 football team in the 2014 UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship held in England in November and December 2013. She was also part of the England women’s national U-20 football team which competed in the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada in August 2014. During this tournament Williamson started in every England’s match. In November 2017 Williamson was called up the senior England squad. She made her debut for the senior team in a 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier against Russia. England won 3-1. She was also a part of the squad who won 2–0 over Denmark for one of their final friendly preparation matches for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Leah Williamson went for a 2019 SheBelievesCup in USA with England and played in the final game. The Lionesses won 3-0 over Japan. In May 2019 Leah was announced as a one of the players who had been selected for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup squad. On being selected for the squad, Williamson said: „I can’t be more thankful because I think I’m the luckiest girl in the world.” Leah made her World Cup debut from the bench in the round of 16 match against Cameroon on 23th ofJune 2019 in Valenciennes . She scored her first England goal in a 3-2 friendly win against Czech Republic on 12th of November 2019. It was an 86th minute winner.

Leah Williamson at the age of only 22 is the key player for Arsenal Women’s team. The first word that comes to my mind and I think it’s the most appropriate word to describe Leah as a player is ‚versatile’. Leah Williamson is a versatile player, which in the context of the development of tactical thought in football, works in her favor. In the modern game, full-backs need a wide range of attributes due to the fact that there are physical and technical demands of their playing position and the fact that defenders are quite commonly used in offensive actions, full-backs often have a share in assists with their runs down the flank when the team is on a counter-attack. What works in Leah’s favor is definitely the fact that a large part of her career she played as a central midfielder. It wasn’t until Joe Montemurro moved her to the position of central defender. Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro definitely appreciated her hard work by saying: „Leah’s really adapting to a bit more of a pro-active defending methodology. She’s got a bit of freedom to go forward and I’m really enjoying working with her. She’s getting the rewards for the amazing work that she’s put in over pre-season and the season so far, so all credit to her.” As a centre back, Leah obviously focuses on securing the defensive block, but she has something that makes her quite special centre back. She feels great with the ball next to her foot, she is calm and composed and plays the ball perfectly in the positional game from the very beginning. Leah has a great vision, can play very accurate passes and in a few matches she has proved that her cross-field passes are brilliant. One precise cross to the wing drives the team’s static action so far. She also tries to take part in team’s attacks and does it really successfully, whether by creating the attack opportunities with a long pass from the depth of the field or using opponent’s defense gaps with starting the action of her team. If she finds free space on the pitch she is not afraid to use it. She shown her excellent technique in delivering such precise long passes in a home match against Birmingham City on 5th of January 2020. Leah assisted at Arsenal’s second goal. She sent a precise diagonal pass from Arsenal’s half, the ball landed just behind the back of Birmingham’s defenders. Excellent height and pass strength, measured so that it fell right under Nobbs’ feet, who allowed the ball to bounce once and hit it with a beautiful lob over the goalkeeper, placing the ball in the back of the net. Beautiful goal, but it’s worth to appreciate Leah’s assist – phenomenal. Another standout performance came a week later. It was an away match against Brighton Hove Albion. Leah played on the right side of back three. She helped her team to open the scoring after just three minutes of the match. She launched a crossfield pass over Brighton’s defense and into the path of Danielle van de Donk. It was just brilliant. But that wasn’t the end of her individual brilliance which she showed in this match. She made another assist. During one of the actions, she found herself on the right wing and played a perfectly measured pass into the penalty area, which landed right under Jill Roord’s feet, who finished the action with an equally precise shot. You may think that this is not unusual, but for me, her technique and passing accuracy is impressive. It is worth seeing, video highlights from both games are on YouTube. Leah Williamson is an extremely talented young player. Her vision of the game and sense of awareness are at the top level. Leah is good in the air, this is one of her main advantages. She knows how to get in space on the pitch, when her teammates have the ball, so that she is always open for a pass if they need her. Leah also has great sense of anticipation and good tackling ability, she’s very strong in the tackle, but the thing is that she usually doesn’t even have to tackle. She has such great positional awareness that she often stops an attack by intercepting passes, so that she doesn’t even need to tackle a player often. She has an extraordinary player intelligence on the pitch. I’ve seen a lot of Arsenal matches and every time I focused on Leah I could see how well she set herself in the defense. She is perfectly aware of what is going on around her on the pitch. She constantly corrects her position, step back, two steps forward, she moves so as not to stay too close to attacking players, so she won’t be vulnerable to being pulled out from her position and leaving a gap in the defense. This is obviously common for defenders, full-backs need to decide during the game whether to stick close to an opponent or maintain a suitable distance. Despite her young age, she shows maturity and composure on the pitch. Actually, if she already has over 100 games played for Arsenal at the age of 22, we can call her an experienced player. It’s worth repeating and emphasizing – at just 22 years old. She has a huge amount of experience at the top level compared to most players at her age.
It is worth quoting the words of manager Joe Montemurro, who appreciates and notices her talent, maturity and how important player for his team she is. On Leah, Joe Montemurro said: „For a girl of her age to show the maturity and the ability to understand the game, the way she positions herself- her positioning is like a 30 year old pro. She always finds the pass, she’s unbelievable. She has all the attributes to be an amazing footballer and an amazing centre-back on the world scale. We love having her at Arsenal.” The current coach of the England women’s national team has also been praising Leah. Phil Neville attended one of the Arsenal’s game, right before the World Cup. After watching Leah’s performance, he said: „This girl is a star. You get some players who are born to captain England. She’s a leader. She’s only 22, and she comes into the squad and acts like a 30-year-old.”

Leah as a Gooner
I’m sure that every die-hard fan of any football team loves having a football player or players who literally could die for their club. Footballers who love the club and show their passion and attachment to the club at every step. Arsenal women’s team fans, it sounds familiar, huh? I think that every fan of the Arsenal women’s team (and not only) when they hear „Leah Williamson” immediately thinks to themselves – a true Gooner. And I can’t argue with that, because she repeatedly shows her love for this team not only on the pitch, but she also proudly speaks about that in interviews. Arsenal loves her and she loves Arsenal. After big 5:0 win over Chelsea on Kingsmeadow on 14th of October 2018, Leah confessed how much that win meant to her: „I said to Mitch (Emma Mitchell) as we were walking over, as an Arsenal supporter I hope that they feel it, that I feel exactly what they’re feeling watching this game. First and foremost I’m a supporter of this football club.” A few weeks later her nature of a die-hard Arsenal fan appeared again. On the achievement of reaching 100 appearances at the age of just 21, Williamson said: „Naturally, I’m always striving for more. In our meeting room at the training ground, the names of all the women who have made 100 appearances are on the wall and I look at some of the names on that wall and, without being too much of a fan girl, a lot of them are my heroes. It’s amazing to be up there now in their company. But it’s about the future for me too and the first 100 is amazing and especially at my age, I really do aim to get a few hundred more yet with this football club and in this shirt. This is more than just a football club to me. My family are all Arsenal supporters and they remind me every day that I’m living a dream to play here and I hope that I have made them proud.” Leah impresses with her confidence and exceptional honesty in everything she says. For example, in her words after the FA WSL Continental Cup final defeat against Manchester City on 23th of February 2019. After that game she said: „That gives you a good idea of the character and resilience of this team. But also we’ve got players that know what it means to be Arsenal and we’ve got new players that already know what that means. Today we maybe didn’t play the Arsenal way, but that character is what it takes to play for a top team to take a game as far as you can, to fight and when it comes to the league, that’s exactly what we will do. We’re pissed off now and we’ve only got one target to focus on and we’ll give it every thing we’ve got.” I guess, we can only imagine how much winning the championship title with Arsenal must have meant for Leah and the whole team. On 28th of April 2019, after a solid 4: 0 victory against Brighton Hove Albion, Arsenal secured the league championship, Leah didn’t hide how important this achievement was for her. As a childhood Arsenal fan it meant the world to Leah and again great words came out of her mouth: „I came here when I was 9 and we were winning the league every year and it was all I ever wanted, to win the league with Arsenal. I guess I thought I would walk into the team one day and it would just happen. But the game has developed so much and the competition is so fierce, to win that out there is absolutely unbelievable. I thought it might come sooner, but the wait has made it sweeter.”
I think that even without being an Arsenal fan, everyone would agree that a player who talks about his/her club in such a way and shows such attachment to the club is simply unique. Her passion for this club is admirable and that’s why I decided to pay some attention to it in this article.

Leah Williamson is one of the most promising young players in the country. At just 22 years old, the number of her football achievements is impressive. Well, loking at the number of matches she has played so far, it can be said that she is already an experienced player, which is a bit crazy if we are talking about a player at such a young age. But such a positive reputation at the club and the sympathy that fans have for her, it didn’t come by itself. She has earned it. If Leah Williamson will keep developing as she is developing so far, I’m convinced that we are currently looking at the future captain of the Arsenal women’s team and I’m willing to risk the statement that even the future captain of the England women’s national football team.

24 year old English footballer who plays as a forward for Arsenal and England women’s national football team.

Beth Mead is the type of player you can’t take your eyes off from, even for a moment. I must admit that I didn’t become Beth’s fan until about a year ago. I honestly regret all those earlier years when I hadn’t followed her career yet.

Beth Mead joined Middlesbrough F.C in 2005. In 2011, at age of 16, she moved to Sunderland. Already in her first season in the club she proved that she is a huge talent. Mead scored 23 goals in the league, and ended the season with 29 goals in all competitions. The following season, she played 28 matches in which she scored … 30 goals. It is worth adding that she was only 17 years old at the time. Next season she scored 15 goals and lead Sunderland to promotion to WSL 1. On 25th of March 2013, in her first match at the top level she scored a goal and also she won the penalty kick for her team . Sunderland won 2-1 over Liverpool. A few months later, on 19th of July 2015, Beth Mead scored a hat-trick against Chelsea. She needed only 18 minutes to complete that hat-trick. What’s worth noticing, 2 days before the game Mead had a car accident. During the way back from training, she swerved to avoid a deer, her car rolled over three times. Fortunately, it ended only with fear and a few scratches and bruises. Hardly anyone gave her a chance to play in this match. She not only played, but she also scored 3 goals. A true warrior. She finished the season as league-leading goalscorer with 12 goals in 14 apps. Not so surprising that after such a good season Arsenal became interested in her. The recognition she fully deserved. On 24th of January 2017 Beth Mead signed for Arsenal Ladies. She joined Arsenal at the age of 21. By that time, she had already scored 77 goals in 78 games for her former club – Sunderland. At Arsenal, her role on the pitch changed due to the fact that Arsenal signed Vivanne Miedema. Beth began to play as a winger. As she says, at first it was quite annoying, but she got used to it and began to enjoy it. Her career at Arsenal began brilliantly. Arsenal won the FA WSL Continental Tires Cup. Meado finished the 17/18 season as Arsenal’s top goalscorer, with 8 goals in the league. In addition, she was voted Arsenal’s player of the season. Beth, who had played in Sunderland as No 9, perfectly adapted to the new role in Arsenal. Her cooperation with Miedema gave Arsenal a huge number of goals. She built a great connection, good relationship on the pitch with the Dutch striker. During the 18/19 season Beth Mead broke the record for most assists in a single season. She ended WSL season with 7 goals, 12 assists and also created more chances than any other Arsenal player. Her importance for Arsenal is therefore invaluable.

Speaking about international career. Beth Mead has represented England at every age level from under-15. She played at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2014. On 6th of April 2018 she made her debut for the senior England women’s national football team. It was a 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification game vs Wales, she came as a substitute. On 4th of September 2018 she started her first match. She scored twice, England won 6-0 over Kazakhstan. At the turn of February and March 2019, England won the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women’s football tournament held in the United States. Beth has scored 2 goals, one of them was a real breathtaking one. A stunner.

How can we describe Beth Mead in one sentence? In my opinion, Beth Mead – a player who only scores beautiful goals. And I think it’s not hard to agree with that. Meado has already scored a lot of beautiful goals in her career. But for this I’m going to devote a separate paragraph. Beth Mead is still a bit underrated player. And this is surprising, because at such a young age she is already a player who has everything to become the best in the world. In Sunderland, she was great as No 9, and now at Arsenal as a winger, she still shines. Her great advantage is the fact that she is very confident on the pitch. She is not afraid to take risks. She bravely enters 1 on 1 duels with opponents. She has very strong sense of awareness. It’s easy to notice that she knows exactly where her teammates are and where opponents are before she makes any move. Her strong point is also that she looks around and assesses the situation before receiving the ball. We can say, she’s already one or two steps ahead of the opponent in her planning. Her technique is also amazing. She dribbles well because of her incredible ball control abilities. I’m very impressed with her technique, she is extremely precise in her passes and crosses. You can see that these perfect delivery from corner kick is the result of many hours of work devoted to this element during training sessions. That’s a mentality of a true athlete. It also seems that Arsenal’s playing style really suits Mead. The style of play introduced by Montemurro gives players a lot of freedom to move inside and swap flanks. The exchangeability of positions on the pitch is very high. Arsenal operate with players who distribute the ball from deep positions and perfectly operate through balls sent between defenders. Mead finds herself perfectly in that style of play. She honestly admits that she actually enjoy assisting as much as scoring goals. Beth Mead signed a new long-term contract a few weeks ago. And I think everyone’s happy about that, because she’s a key player to this team.

Writing previous articles about several world-class female footballers, in none of them did I devote a separate paragraph to the description of the beautiful goals that these players scored. When planning this article, I knew from the very beginning that such a paragraph would arise. So it is. A little tribute to Beth Mead and her breathtaking goals. What a surprise, I will start with the goal after which Beth began to be called the master of the cross-shot. She has created her very own signature finish – the ‚crot’. During the She Believes Cup 2019 tournament in the USA, Beth scored a goal whose beauty cannot be described in words, you just have to see it. It was a game against Brazil. Fran Kirby created free space for Beth on the right wing, Mead picked up the ball outside the box and fired a shot from a tight angle. It’s a goal that you can watch over and over and it never cease to delight you. Another goal I want to mention is the goal from the match against Brighton from the 18/19 season, after which Arsenal celebrated the Women’s Super League championship title. Beth Mead received the ball on the Brighton’s half, ran down inside and hit the ball from about 30 meters. The ball landed straight into the right top corner of the goal. I’m sure nobody expected that in such a situation she would shoot on goal, I remember watching this match, I thought to myself „what the hell is she doing”, but she just looked quickly towards the goal and left me speechless with her outstanding long-range strike. She has won the WFA Goal of the Year with this brilliant strike. Very well deserved. On October 20, 2019, in a 4-0 win at the Continental Cup match against Charlton Women, she scored a goal that left me personally in a dilemma whether physical laws really exist. That was a delightful finesse shot. She fired the shot from the edge of the box, the ball curled straight into the back of the net. Bend it like Beth Mead. She showed the genius of her individual brilliance in a match against Chelsea from the 18/19 season. On April 1, 2018, in the derby match at Meadow Park, in the 45th minute of the match, Mead got the ball on the right wing, easily dribbled throught two Chelsea’s defenders, with the ball close to the foot, she ran into the penalty box and she just put the ball in the net. If it’s still not enough, then you can always look at YouTube, search for Beth Mead and find there, for example, beautiful goal from the season opening match against West Ham from September this year or another beautiful, precise strike from England’s game against Czech Republic, November this year. Just type on Youtube: „Beth Mead” and trust me, you’ll never be disappointed. Let’s go back in time, until July 12, 2015, 20-year-old Beth Mead gives Sunderland a victory after a great individual action ending with a brilliant shot to the right upper corner of the goal in added time of the game. Holding the ball close to her foot, she didn’t let opponents to take the ball from her, with the body balance she misled the rivals and finished the action with a precise shot from behind the penalty area.

In my opinion, but I think there is a lot of people who agree with me as well, Beth Mead is a role model both on and off the pitch. I read articles about her and interviews with her and I think that she has so much wisdom and knowledge about football that it is impossible not to admire her. In one of the interviews given to the English newspaper DailyMail she mentioned comparing women’s and men’s football and said: „The men’s boot room is probably bigger than our changing room at the training ground, but you don’t need a fancy room to make you a better footballer „. And I can only agree with that sentence, because that’s 100% true. She shows not only her wisdom, but also self-confidence. Not only on the pitch, but as we can see, also off the pitch. The attention and love she give to her fans after every game is amazing. Always coming to meet fans, she always finds time to take picture or have a little chat. A few days ago I’ve seen a video on Twitter, Beth Mead playing with kids after the game. She took a moment to even take kids on the pitch and have a little run with them. For her it’s just a small gesture, but for these children it’s definitely an unforgettable feeling that put a smile on their faces. For these children, and not only for them, she becomes an inspiration. In an interview with The Telegraph, she herself admitted: „It’s crazy for people to be looking up to us because in my head I’m me. I’m just normal Beth Mead. I’m nothing special. It’s nice – but it’s weird „. That passion, great talent and modesty. It’s such a pleasure to watch her doing some magic on the pitch. Everything in her movements is harmonious and thought out. Let’s hope that Beth Mead will continue to grow up as a player so that her potential will be appreciated, because I have the impression that her talent is still slightly underrated.

24-years-old Norwegian proffesional footballer currently playing for FC Barcelona and the Norway women’s national football team.

• Hello? Is this Leo Messi?
• No, it’s Caro Hansen on the phone.
• Oh, that’s even better.

Caroline Graham Hansen was born and raised in Oslo. She spent her youth career at the Lyn, where she played until the age of 15. In 2010, 15-year-old Caroline moved to Stabæk and made her debut at Toppserien (the top level of women’s association football in Norway). For three years spent in Stabæk she appeared in 71 matches in which she scored 32 goals. In August 2013, Hansen signed a contract with Tyresö FF (Swedish Damallsvenskan champions). She helped Tyresö qualify for the 2013–14 UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter finals. It was quite a short adventure, Caro appeared in 7 matches and scored 3 goals. She decided to return to Stabæk in January 2014 to complete her high school education. At that time Hansen was already monitored by some clubs from the European top. On 8th of May 2014, German club VfL Wolfsburg announced that they had signed a contract with Hansen. And here Caro’s career gained momentum. During five seasons in Wolfsburg, Caro Graham Hansen appeared in 88 matches and scored 29 goals. Wolfsburg year after year dominated the German Frauen-Bundesliga and German DFB-Pokal. Hansen with Wolfsburg won DFB-Pokal five times in a row. In seasons: 2014/15; 2015/16; 2016/17; 2017/18; 2018/19. In addition, she won the Bundesliga three times in a row, in the seasons: 2016/17; 2017/18; 2018/19. After very successful five years in Vfl (it can be honestly admitted that the only thing missing was winning the UEFA Women’s Champions League title), Caro Hansen received an offer from Barcelona and moved there in May 2019.

Caro Hansen also has a very successful international career. So far, she has represented her country 77 times and scored 26 goals. In 2011, 16-year-old Hansen was a part of the Norwegian U-19 team who finished as runners-up in the 2011 UEFA Women’s U-19 Championship. Norwegian winger was also included in squad for the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan. She made her senior debut for Norway against Belgium in November 2011. In June 2012 she scored her first senior international goal in a 11–0 win against Bulgaria. In that match she also assisted more than half of Norway’s goals, which is very impressive. Hansen was a very imporant player for Norway at the UEFA Women’s Euro 2013. The team reached the competition final. In the final they lost against Germany. In 2015 she was ruled out of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup beacuse of the serious knee injury. Caro appeared at the Women’s World Cup in France this year and she was a key player for her national team. Norway reached the quarter-final, where they were eliminated by England. Caro played 5 matches at the World Cup and scored one goal. At the World Cup she attracted attention with her calmness and extremely brilliant dribbling skills.

Once I have these statistics behind me, I can now go to what catches the eye every time I watch this player in action. Caroline Graham Hansen is a player who, in my opinion (but I think many people will agree with me), is the most talented dribbler in all women’s football leagues in Europe. Watching her on the pitch as she gains the speed and passes her rivals like training poles is a big pleasure. Graham Hansen is a player who has everything to be the best player in the world. She is very fast, has phenomenal dribbling, can find herself in the penalty box and has an amazing shot from the distance. She also seems to feel good in a combination game. Her technique is admirable. You can watch it over and over again and you will never get bored. She is also a leader on the pitch. She’s not a player who can be heard on the pitch, she seems to be a rather calm, composed player who focuses simply on the game. But you can see that she is the leader of her national team, when in difficult moments she is not afraid to take the burden of the game on her back. She just takes the ball and leads her team, she’s not afraid of dribbling and even when she lose the ball, she is not afraid to try again in the next action. You can see how hard she works on the pitch, I’m not just talking about the offensive, she often goes back to the defensive to help break down the opponents’ actions. The thing that also characterizes her are very accurate passes and perfect crosses from the corner kick spot. I remember the first time I noticed her when she was still playing in Wolsburg. I was watching the match and at one point she got the ball and started to run alone against 3 or 4 opponents. I thought to myself: „What the hell is this girl doing?”. 10 seconds later I watched in disbelief as the ball landed in the net. I was delighted, I was speechless. What a talent. What a courage. What a technique. What a player. This is one of my first memories connected with this unbelievable baller. From that moment I knew that Caroline Graham Hansen is a player whose career I will follow.

What has always impressed me is her ability to play in a small space. She is technically so good, she runs with the ball close to her foot and she has full control over it. In 1 on 1 duels with the goalkeeper she is cool-headed. Watching her highlights on YouTube, you can see that she is not panicking, she looks to the end as the goalkeeper is set and chooses which corner of the goal she wants to hit, or by one trick she passes the goalkeeper and packs the ball into the net. Very confident on the pitch, especially with the ball next to her foot. Her goal in the match against Belgium in 2013 can only be described in one word: brilliant. Her second goal against Northern Ireland in the 2018 WC qualifier match is a pure poetry. It’s on YouTube, if you don’t believe me, just check it. A phenomenal volley just in the top corner of the goal. Stunning. Caroline Graham Hansen is a real talent. Also a true role model for young girls. I watched her interviews during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. CGH is very modest and can say inspiring words to young girls who wants to follow her steps. In some interview she was asked about what advices she got as a child, which helped her to get where she is now. She replied: ” Never stop trying. Keep on try, to take opponents 1 by 1, doesn’t matter if you fail, you just have to try again, understand why you didn’t succeed, try to focus how you can make it”. It defines her very well, because you can see that she has put these tips into practice. I personally like to listen and watch her interviews. Every time I get a positive dose of motivation. In words that she speaks about how proud she is to play for Norway and to be part of such a developing female football. Almost in every interview she mentions that it is important to have fun and enjoy playing football.

Maren Mjelde – captain of Norway women’s national football team said in an interview: „I had heard a lot about her before I saw her play. They said she was the most talented player Norway had ever produced. She was only 16 and her technique was superb.” In the same interview, she pointed Hansen’s advantages: „Caro has the kind of attacking skills that not many players have. Her ball control is amazing and in terms of technique she’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen. She’s a very powerful lone striker. She’s a great leader and a great team player at the same time. All her energies go into helping the team to play better and win.” Then she added: „She’s got the quality to change games, and when it comes to one-on-one situations, she’s the best in the world.”

Caroline Graham Hansen is a player who is considered as one of the best female football players in the world. She is only 24 years old. She will definitely play football for a few more good years. For fans, this is a great news. For her teammates also. And for her opponents? Well, if I had the opportunity to play against Hansen and I could win a 1 in 1 duel against her, I would probably put it in the „achievements” column in my CV. Do you need motivation for training? Do you need a person who will be a role model for you? Do you need to see a football virtuoso? Three words. Caroline. Graham. Hansen. I don’t know what we did that we deserved to live in the times of such an outstanding athlete. But I am very happy about it. I want to wish Caroline a lot of health and no injuries. She will definitely keep delighitng us many times in the future. Am I ready for this? I am and can’t wait because watching every match played by this player is a great pleasure. If you have never tried it before, then you have to do it. You won’t regret it. Caroline Graham Hansen – Norwegian dribbling genius.

Vivianne Miedema, or to be very accurate – Anna Margaretha Marina Astrid Miedema – 23-year-old Dutch proffesional footballer who plays as a forward for Arsenal and the Netherlands women’s national football team. 

To be honest, Miedema is a player who, in my opinion, can be perfectly described with one word – a phenomenon. How else can you describe a player who before reaching the age of 23 achieved among others: Silver Medal at 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Gold Medal at 2017 UEFA Women’s Euro, FA WSL title with Arsenal (season 18/19). And if that wasn’t enough, this year, she became the all-time top scorer for the Netherlands women’s national football team, across both the women’s and men’s teams.

I have listed only some of her achievements here. At age 23, the list of her successes is very impressive. In addition to the previously mentioned: winning the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich twice, internationally: winning the 2014 UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship. Individual: 2014 UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship Top Scorer, 2014 UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship Golden Player, 2016-17 UEFA Women’s Champions League Top Scorer, London Football Awards Women’s Player of the Year 2019, Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player’s Player of the Year 2018/2019.

Miedema started her senior career by signing for SC Heerenveen at age of 14 and made her senior debut at 15, she become the youngest ever player in the Eredivisie Vrouwen. She scored 39 goals for Heerenveen in the 2013–14 BeNe League season, and without a surprise she won her the top-scorer award. Over three seasons in SC Heerenveen she appeared in 69 matches and scored 78 goals in them. Before she even turned 18. That’s incredible. A phenomenon. In June 2014 Miedema signed a contract with Bayern Munich. She won the Bundesliga title with Bayern in 2014/15 without losing any game. 3 seasons in Bayern – 61 appearances, 35 goals. In May 2017 Viv signed a contract with Arsenal. In 2019 she is obviously still an Arsenal player and does amazing things here. In the 18/19 season she appeared in 28 matches and scored 31 goals (20 games, 22 goals, 10 assists in WSL). Miedema finished the season undoubtedly as the top scorer in WSL. A phenomenon.

Speaking of an international career…
On 26th of September 2013, at the age of 17, Miedema made her debut for the Dutch national team in a 4-0 victory over Albania. A year later, during the U19 European Championship she led the Netherlands to the title by scoring six goals, became the tournament’s top scorer and received the prize for the best player of the tournament. Since then, Vivianne’s career has gained momentum. In the last elimination match for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup against Italy, Miedema scored all the goals and secured Netherland’s first promotion to the World Cup in history (she scored 16 goals in the qualifications, the most of all players). She was named as „the most talented striker in Europe” for her achievements. Vivianne was also a key player during the 2017 European Women’s Football Championship held in her homeland. Miedema scored the winning goal in the semi-final match against England and scored two goals in the final game against Denmark, which was enough for the Dutch to win their first ever championship title.

15th of June 2019 had to be very special day for the young player. On that day, month before she turned 23, she became the all-time top scorer of the Netherlands women’s national football team after scoring her 60th goal in a 3–1 win against Cameroon at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She passed the record held by Manon Melis and moved even further ahead of the men’s team leading scorer, Robin van Persie. She helped to lead the Dutch team to the final, where they fell 2-0 to defending champions United States. A phenomenon.

I must admit that Miedema has an amazing talent for scoring goals. It’s a gift. She’s always in the right place at the right time to finish off her opponent with another goal scored. Her better leg is her right leg, but sometimes it looks like it doesn’t matter to her at all when she launches a rocket from her left leg. Watching her in action on the pitch, it’s easy to notice her calm in the penalty area. Getting the ball in the penalty box, she stays cool, she can move the ball from one leg to another, with a quick dribble or fake shot, put the rival on the ground and then make the shot. What’s funny, you can also see that Miedema doesn’t like to run too much. But you can’t say she doesn’t work hard. She works very hard on the pitch, she fights for every ball. You don’t always have to run a lot, sometimes you only need cleverness and instinct, and these are the features Miedema undoubetely has. The footballer herself admitted in an interview that she doesn’t like running. It’s quite funny to hear such words especially from the striker. But I have already watched many matches, in which I saw Miedema walking on the pitch, and in a split second, very instinctively,she uses the mistake of the opponent and with full sprint runs to the ball and scores another goal with cool finish. Classy.

What makes Vivianne Miedema a fantastic player? A perfect „9” as we can say. She has great physical conditions, she is well built and relatively tall. She can protect the ball from the opponents. She has speed, a speed that allows her to leave most opponents behind her. In addition, she is very precise in her plays or shots, she is technically very good. Looking at her style of play, you might think she plays as number 10. And it’s not surprising, because she started playing as a „10”. It is perfectly visible when she breaks away from the defense line and for a moment runs for the ball to the midfield line to play the ball further. It is also important that Miedema grew up as a fan of Feynoord and her biggest idol is Robin van Persie. In interviews, she emphasizes that Van Persie is her hero. And I think you can see it on the pitch. She developed her left foot, although she is naturally right-footed. Miedema is very relaxed on and off the pitch as you can see. It looks like she has that laid-back nature. Watching her games, I often feel like I can’t see her for the first 30 minutes of the game. I guess I know why. She’s analyzing the opposite team. And when she will find some weakness of the opposing team’s defence, she uses it ruthlessly. What is also noticeable, Vivianne spends a lot of time on working out space on the pitch. She is a very unselfish player, she looks for the space for herself and also creates space for her teammates. In the previous WSL season she has completed 11 assists (in addition to 31 goals scored). She plays unselfishly and likes to create space. The fact that Miedema is playing as 9, but she still has the summons from playing as 10, makes her an excellent forward, who is also able to assist and create goal situations for her teammates.

But maybe it’s also worth focusing on what’s off the pitch. Miedema can be a role model for the young players not only on the pitch, but in my opinion also off the pitch. She is open about her relationship with her teammate from Arsenal – Lisa Evans. Most people may not even notice that they are dating, but when someone asks her about her relationship, she is not ashamed to tell the truth. This is important in these times. It’s year 2019 and we can agree or disagree with this, but everything goes on. Miedema paves the way for younger girls, it’s very important to be a role model for others both on and off the pitch. Miedema inspires, in the era of the struggle for the equality of women in the football world, is a great example that this can be done subtly and gradually accustom people to the fact that football is also a female discipline. Either we get used to it or we go back intellectually to the level of the Middle Ages.

Let’s hope Vivianne Miedema won’t stop delighting us with her sophisticated style of play. Actually, we can be sure of it, it looks like she was destined for success. Such great achievements at such a young age, many years of playing ahead of her, and I hope that she will continue to inspire. So… Anna Margaretha Marina Astrid Miedema – thank you – for being such a modest player, such a great player, such a great role model for many people. Football wouldn’t be the same without Miedema. She is writing a beautiful story in women’s football. We are lucky to live in the times of such an amazing athlete.

27 years old Dutch professional footballer is currently playing at Arsenal Ladies after she joined them on November 2015 from Goteborg. Earlier she had been playing at PSV.

Dutch women’s football is experiencing an amazing boom these days. It’s not surprising at all. Incredibly ambitious players, mostly playing in top clubs in top European leagues in combination with a coach who has a baggage of experience. Year 2017 – quite unexpected European Championship, although fully deserved. Year 2019 – another surprise, World Vice Championship, again undoubtedly fully deserved. And words of appreciation for the Dutch football association, the team is guaranteed excellent conditions for development, professionalism. That’s great, because, as we know, not every team can count on professional support from its federation.

Dutch National Team is a brand in itself, a forge of talents. Most of us when we hear about the Netherlands women’s national football team (also known as „Oranje Leeuwinnnen”), think straightaway about stars such as: Vivianne Miedema, Shanice van de Sanden, Lieke Martens, Jackie Groenen and Danielle van de Donk. And there is nothing surprising here, all of them are footballers from the world top of women’s football. However, I think that one of the players mentioned by me is slightly underrated. I don’t devalue anyone, but I must admit that we are delighted with an amazing goals by Miedema (she is unbelievable), brilliant dynamics and speed from Shanice, great dribbling and shots by Martens, or an extremely sophisticated ball presented by Groenen. Meanwhile, van de Donk still remains somewhat in the shadow. Yes, I’m a fan of this woman. In my opinion, without neglecting any of the Dutch’s players, because each was part of the Dutch success, Danielle is a quiet heroine of this team. Yes, you could miss it, she is so tiny (sorry, little joke). But I have never seen such a small person with such a big heart to play. She never lets go, she literally runs all over the pitch, from offensive to defensive. She leaves her whole heart on the pitch.

In addition, she shows the admirable peace of mind in the game, her calm when she has to play under pressure can impress. She calls herself a feisty person and I think that everyone who follows her career, like me, agrees.
An amazing warrior with a slightly explosive character. But I think that both the Netherlands and her club teammates from Arsenal, are happy that they have such a valiant player in their teams (especially friends from Arsenal, when Daan in their defense pushes the referee demanding a red card for the opponent). Some may say that she is too impulsive. Maybe a little sometimes, but this fighting spirit defines the winners. I started following Danielle’s career when she was already an Arsenal player. I decided to watch Arsenal’s match and from the very beginning she caught my attention. Arsenal has many players on world top level – Kim Little, Lisa Evans, Leah Williamson, Jordan Nobbs, Beth Mead and many more… But this little warrior caught my attention.
It was love at first sight (I’m talking about her game and style of playing obviously ;)). Later, I decided to watch her performances when she was still PSV’s and Gothenburg’s player.

27-year-old Danielle is a player already experienced, but still hungry for successes. And the fact that she came to Arsenal only confirms this, because the English league is developing at a great pace and the Arsenal Ladies team is reporting big ambitions. Due to winning the English WSL, Arsenal gained the place in the Women’s Champions League 2019/2020. The hunger for success defines the winners. Arsenal won the league in the 18/19 season, FA Women’s Cup in the 2015/16 season and FA WSL Cup in the 2017/18 season. Is something missing here? Yes, triumph in the Champions League. And I think that this goal is at hand in the upcoming season. Looking at the stats of Danielle, you can see that as a midfielder she is a player who scores quite a lot of goals. Last season in Arsenal, 19 appearances, 12 goals and 6 assists. 3 seasons in the Dutch league (PSV) – 53 performances , 30 goals – impressive.

Once I decided to do a personal analysis of her passing accuracy in one match. I choose the Arsenal – Chelsea match from April 1, 2018. Why this game? To be honest, I don’t know, but I definitely wanted to analyze the match, in which the opponent of Arsneal will be a very demanding team. Hence the choice of this match. Earlier, watching Daan’s games, whether in Arsenal or in the national team, it immediately caught my eye on the refined football she plays. Thoughtful, accurate, controlled even when playing under pressure. What I immediately noticed is the fact that her passes are almost 100% accurate. I know, it is nothing surprising from the midfielder. that’s their role and that is expected from them. Nevertheless, her style of playing made me smile. So, let’s get back to that game – Arsenal vs Chelsea, 1th of April 2018. She had 11 accurate passes on 11 attempts. The first inaccurate pass occurred in the 26th minute of the game. After the first half, she had 24 attempts of which 21 were on target. Which gives us 87.5 percent efficiency. A really good result for a central midfielder. But not only this defines this player as a world top. Her ability to read the game, to set in the defense, her consciousness of mind during counterattacks – the hands themselves make for applause. We can often see Danielle coming back to defense and then making a sacrificial sliding tackle to take the ball from opponent’s feet. Sometimes I wonder if she ever gets tired. So hard working on the whole width and length of the pitch. 90 minutes of the match and I see a full sprint and successful reception of the ball. Titanic work. As I said a small human but with a big heart to play. She is totally devoted to football. Of course, I don’t know her personally (I hope I will have the opportunity someday), I’m speaking only from my point of view.

You can look at the statistics and say: yes, but she doesn’t have such impressive statistics (number of goals / assists) at Arsenal or with the Netherlands National Team. After all, there are other players in her position who have better statistics. Yes, you can say that. But football is not only about the statistics. Because sometimes the most important is what you can’t write on paper. And she is the most hard-working player I’ve ever seen in my life. The amount of hard work she leaves on the pitch, as a midfielder, is amazing. I keep up my position that she is a quiet heroine of the Dutch success. Her importance for the team was second to none. Probably not many people noticed it, but the tight and well-functioning center of the field is her great merit.Without subtracting Spitse or Groenen, because thanks to their cooperation, the Dutch, two years ago and a few weeks ago, achieved such great success. But Danielle is a player, who had huge impact on Dutch’s achievement. If you don’t believe me, just youtube her (as she sometimes does herself) or watch one of Arsenal’s or Netherland’s game and focus only on her. You will see that Van De Donk always makes an awesome work, she is a key player. Still a bit underrated. Hopefully after reading my article you’ll appreciate
her game. She deserves all the recognision. Many thanks to her, she keeps inspiring me every day, hopefully she’ll inspire many people. Football is a beautiful game. Football needs players who inspires and encourages people to get better and better every day.