fries and cola at the whirlwind canteen in Oranje

“I’m really, really tired,” confessed Pelova (23) with a pale face. The Arsenal player should have gone far against the losing European Championship finalist. National coach Andries Jonker saw her as a ‘wingback’ on the right, a player who covers the entire flank. “The races are very different,” Pelova noted. “I can feel it in my legs now.”

At the sold-out Fortuna Sittard Stadium, where the Netherlands trained ahead of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (July 20-August 20), Pelova swept the pitch like a whirlwind. She closed holes, caught balls and put several teammates in position. “I asked Victoria: Would you like to do this?” Jonker said of Pelova’s new position. “She said: coach, I want to participate. We practiced on it three times. And everything went well right away. »

Crisps and coke

And who would have thought? At least not Pelova herself. Until the age of seventeen she played with the boys of DSV Concordia in Delft. Training twice a week, playing a game on Saturday, then chips and cokes in the cafeteria afterwards. She was okay with that.

Until ADO Den Haag approached him. Pelova, who also snowboarded, played tennis and chess in the past, decided to give football a serious chance. With success. In 2019, she moved to Ajax. With this club, she failed in the preliminary round of the Champions League against Arsenal at the start of this season.

The London club have inquired about Pelova’s services during the winter break. Should she try her luck? Pelova doubted. Was it useful with a World Cup in sight? A winter transfer is unusual in women’s football. But secretly, the words of Arsenal striker Miedema, who announced this week that she was giving up World Cup hopes for good, still resonated. “Vic, go abroad,” Miedema told Pelova. “That would be really good for you.”

Pelova, daughter of a Dutch father and a Bulgarian mother, decided to try her luck in January. His transition was not easy at first. The water heater in his apartment broke on the first day and water gushed out of his toilet, forcing him to stay in Miedema’s house for a month.

She also had to adapt in terms of level. Pelova found that training sessions at Arsenal required higher intensity. But it is growing rapidly. And has quickly become a staple at Arsenal, who play in the Champions League semi-finals against VfL Wolfsburg (along with Roord, Janssen and Wilms) later this month. “When I was eighteen, I could only last twenty minutes,” laughs Pelova, thinking back to her rapid growth. “Now it works almost the whole game. I would rather keep sprinting for ninety minutes. I strive for this. But I’m happy with my process.

Solid Core Orange

His progress is clearly visible against Germany, number two in the world rankings. Pelova is skilled on the ball, has lung capacity and has good insight. “I was recently asked if Pelova was already part of Orange’s permanent core,” Jonker said afterwards. “To which I said: but isn’t she already part of it? I would prefer to give him a free role.

Jonker said he was satisfied with his team’s performance. “It’s confirmation that we are on the right track,” he said. He seemed to be waiting for the first goal for the Netherlands, who were playing an international match for the first time at Sittard. As a striker, Beerensteyn had luck after luck and Van de Donk even hit the post, until Germany scored directly from the first chance shortly after the break: 0-1. That was it. Despite the fact that Van der Gragt, who played his hundredth international match, still had a chance to equalise.

“I thought we were the better team,” Pelova said. “We created so many chances against the world number two. We did well there.

On Tuesday, the Orange team will play an exhibition match against Poland in Rotterdam, after which preparations for the World Cup will begin on June 19.