Vivianne Miedema's injury has thrust Lineth Beerensteyn into the spotlight at the World Cup. The forward has enjoyed a successful first season with Juventus and carried that form into the Oranje's warm-up matches, scoring four goals in their last four outings. How she performs in front of goal in Australia and New Zealand will be crucial to her side's chances of winning the trophy for the first time, particularly in the absence of star striker Miedema. We take a closer look at Beerensteyn ahead of the Netherlands' opening fixture against Portugal tomorrow. Beerensteyn has prior experience lifting silverware with the Netherlands from when they hosted and won Euro 2017. However, she was still only 20 years old at the time and featured exclusively as a substitute, coming off the bench in three matches and playing a total of just 22 minutes. Since then, Beerensteyn has played in two more major tournaments, starting five games and registering one goal and one assist. She will have to enjoy a far more prolific campaign this time around if the Oranje are to be successful. Beerensteyn enjoyed an electric first season in Turin after joining Juventus last summer. The 26-year-old made 20 Serie A starts, scoring 11 goals and chipping in with three assists, although the defending champions were unable to retain their crown and finished second behind Roma. Beerensteyn's accuracy was especially impressive — she ranked joint-third in the league for shots on target (29) from 69 efforts. She also causes havoc by running at defenders with the ball, completing 32 of her 70 attempted take-ons.
Juventus head coach Joe Montemurro singled Beerensteyn out for praise, picking out her ability to inject her attacking flair and creativity into the side. He said: "Lineth's quality and ideas bring so much to our team. "We try out different in-game scenarios in training to put her in good positions to run at the opposition defence and get in on goal. She's a great professional." With Miedema injured, Beerensteyn has taken up the mantle of first-choice centre forward — and the striker is confident in her ability to replace the Oranje's all-time leading scorer. She said: "It's a different pressure, but I don't look at that at all. "And I'm not the only one on the field. Those 23 players [in the squad] form a team and we have to do it together. "Of course, I'm in that position and that includes goals. But I just do my thing, I always want to perform and score my goals." The Netherlands face World Cup debutants Portugal in their opening fixture. While their opponents have only been victorious in one of their last four outings, they did well to hold heavyweights England to a 0-0 draw and showcase their resilience. Beerensteyn will be key to the Oranje’s chances of unlocking that stubborn defence — her runs in behind can create space for team-mates while also getting her into goalscoring positions. She will want to get off the mark quickly and continue her scoring streak as the Netherlands pursue football's most prestigious prize.
