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Football star Vivianne Miedema knows now: she must miss the World Cup next summer. The Arsenal and Orange striker tore the anterior cruciate ligament in one knee at the end of last year. Miedema had initially hoped for a miracle, but more than three months before the start of the World Cup, she lost her last glimmer of hope.
The 26-year-old forward told the BBC she hadn’t recovered in time for the world finals in Australia and New Zealand. “I’m going to miss the World Cup and it hurts me,” Miedema said. “Hopefully I’ll be back before the start of the new season. I’m focusing on that now, I have to be realistic. The rehabilitation is going well. Slowly, in small steps.”
Miedema is the Dutch footballers’ all-time top scorer with 95 goals in 115 international appearances. She was injured in December during Arsenal’s match in the Champions League against Olympique Lyonnais. A few weeks earlier, her friend and England team-mate Beth Mead also suffered a cruciate ligament injury. “Beth is a month ahead in terms of recovery, which is frustrating for me. I see her doing things that I can’t do yet,” Miedema told the BBC. Mead still has a slim chance of qualifying for the World Cup. “Although something of a miracle has to happen if she wants to be fit on time,” Miedema said.
National coach Andries Jonker has already used past international matches to determine who can best replace Miedema in the Orange team. The ‘Leeuwinnen’ will meet in Zeist on Monday for a training camp. They will play a practice match against Germany in Sittard on Friday and against Poland four days later in Rotterdam.
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