Vivianne Miedema broke the deadlock against Italy (Video)

Vivianne Miedema has been as good as ever at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and she provided the game’s first goal in the Netherlands’ quarterfinal matchup against Italy.

The Netherlands are the defending European champions and among the favorites to win the 2019 Women’s World Cup, but Italy presented a unique challenge for them. Since Italy love controlling possession and have a talented roster that have exceeded expectations, they threatened to upset the Netherlands.

Italy seemed to get the better of the Oranje in the first half, but the Dutch struck first in this game. While there were plenty of dangerous chances created by both sides, it took 70 minutes for fans to see the first goal. And it wasn’t a surprise that the deadlocking-breaking score came from Netherlands’ elite striker Vivianne Miedema.

One of the best players at the World Cup, Miedema is the Netherlands’ all-time leading scorer despite being 22, and it’s a record she set earlier in the tournament against Cameroon.

This crucial goal in the quarterfinal against Italy came off of a wonderful set piece from Sherida Spitse, who nearly scored earlier in the game off of a lovely free kick from way outside the box. Whether going for goal directly or setting up teammates with a cross, Spitse has some of the best set piece delivers in all of world football. This was a prime example of that.

The Arsenal star still needed to finish, though, and she provided the perfect header, sending the ball into the far corner where Italy’s superstar keeper Laura Giuliani couldn’t get it. This was another sublime finish from a world-class striker.

While Miedema had a difficult matchup against Italy center back Sara Gama — perhaps the best defensive player in the tournament thus far — she carved out a few opportunities with her quality. And when the ball falls to her in a situation like this, a striker of her caliber won’t miss.

She took this chance perfectly to give the Netherlands the lead, and the Oranje wouldn’t look back thereafter. Even in tough conditions against a tough opponent, Miedema will rise to the occasion, and she now has 61 career goals in 79 appearances for her country.