‘It is very special that it came today’ – Miedema reacts to 100th international goal | OneFootball

Manchester City forward Vivianne Miedema admitted that it was very special to net her 100th international goal for The Netherlands in their opening UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 match against Wales.

Miedema opened the scoring for The Orange Lionesses in Lucerne before goals from Victoria Pelova and Esmee Brugts sealed a 3-0 victory.

Miedema had been closing in on a century of international goals for the best part of three years and she said that finally achieving the feat was special.

“Yes, very special,” Miedema said when speaking in the post-match press conference. “I think as a little girl, you can only dream of getting close to these numbers. It is very special that it came today.”

Miedema’s wait to hit the 100 mark has been lengthened by long-term and niggling injuries in recent years and she was pleased to finally get the big moment done and dusted.

She said “It took a while of course given my injuries over the last two-and-a-half years. When you do get close [to 100] and everyone is talking about it, it’s nice that it’s happened now in the first match and I can continue from here.”

Miedema’s goal came from a trademark moment of individual brilliance. She moved the ball between her feet before eventaully curling a shot into the far corner of the net with her right boot. The player explained her decision to shoot when she did.

She said “It was just not right on my left [foot], so that’s why I brought it back to the right side. I looked up and saw that the goalkeeper was quite far to the left side and I think it was eventually nicely placed from there.”

Reflecting on the Dutch performance, Miedema was pleased to see the team ease to victory and have the luxury to give some of the game-changers minutes.

She said “In the first half, we played quite well. Of course, it was Wales’ first game at a big final tournament. Those girls gave everything and at some point, you know that you might need something special.

“I’m glad that the first goal came before half-time. In the second half, you could see that we really got into playing our football and it becomes two and three pretty quickly.

“It’s very nice that you can take some girls off, put others on and prepare as well as possible for the next match.”

The Netherlands are next in Group D action when they face England on Wednesday evening.