Vivianne Miedema of the Netherlands went full Dennis Bergkamp with a brilliantly taken goal against Brazil in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Oranje and Arsenal forward pulled out a page straight from her legendary compatriot and club legend’s book as she performed a stunning turn and scored with a composed finish against Brazil in the ongoing Olympic Games in Tokyo.
It was Miedema herself who opened the scoring for the Dutch as early as in the third minute, but Debinha equalised for Brazil in the 16th minute. With the teams deadlocked, Miedema scored a second for the Netherlands – a goal that was the pick of the lot on the night.
Upon being fed the ball from the right flank with a cross, Miedema showed a brilliant presence of mind to drag her marker outside the box.
Miedema performed a feint followed by an excellent turn to drag Érika out of the Brazilian back four, and when the defender had vacated her space to offer Miedema a free attempt in goal – the Arsenal forward slotted the ball into the corner with expertise.
The Dutch were 2-1 up, and the strike reminded a fair few of Dennis Bergkamp’s similar turn and a similar finish for Arsenal against Newcastle in the Premier League years ago.
It was a goal that required only two touches – the first with the right foot to complete the change of direction that fooled the Brazilian defender, and the second with the left foot to leave the goalkeeper no chance.
But despite the brilliant finish, Brazil struck twice in quick succession to go 3-2 up in the closing minutes – before Dominique Janssen’s strike in the 79th minute earned a point for the Netherlands in what was an Olympics classic against one of the best teams in the sport.
