Lieke Martens gives Netherlands the lead with backheel goal (Video)

Netherlands superstar winger Lieke Martens had yet to score a goal in the 2019 Women’s World Cup, but she gave her team an early lead in the Round of 16 with a lovely finish.

Lieke Martens is one of the best players in the world today and while she had been quiet on the scoresheet in this tournament, she made her mark in the Netherlands Round of 16 matchup against Japan.

The Netherlands boast one of the world’s best attacking trios in Martens, striker Vivianne Miedema (an early candidate for Player of the Tournament), and Lyon right winger Shanice van de Sanden.

All three women will need to be at their best for the Dutch to win the tournament, and they are the reason why the Netherlands are among the tournament favorites.

In the 17th minute against Japan, Martens showed her quality by giving her team an early 1-0 lead with a slick backheel finish. There have been several great goals in the World Cup so far, and this finish from Martens was certainly one of them.

This goal will be on “Goal of the Tournament” lists in a few weeks, because this was an insane first-time, no-look finish off a corner. Martens had little time to react to the incoming corner kick and instinctively placed this perfectly, fooling the goalkeeper and nutmegging a defender.

Martens now has 43 goals for the Netherlands in 102 appearances, and there will likely be more great moments from her to come in this year’s World Cup.

She is a former Player of the Year and a superstar player for Barcelona at the club level, and her contributions to Netherlands in this year’s World Cup will have to be at that elite level for the reigning European champions to win the most competitive World Cup yet.

The Netherlands picked up a perfect nine points in the group stages, including a win over Canada, and are brimming with confidence. Martens’s cheeky goal shows just how exciting the Netherlands are to watch on the field.