In the BBC poll of the British broadcaster, Orange’s highest scorer of all time was voted the best footballer of the year. Fans around the world preferred Midema to Australia’s Sam Kerr (Chelsea) and Spain’s Alexia Pudellos (FC Barcelona) finishing second and third respectively. Last year’s prize went to the English Lucy Bronze, which in 2019 was won by Ada Hegerberg of Norway.

“It means a lot to me, after a year with the Dutch team and Arsenal,” says Maidema, who was surprised with the BBC trophy during his club’s training. The 25-year-old striker has scored more than 100 goals for the English club since joining Arsenal in 2017. He won the league title in 2019 with Arsenal. The title went to Chelsea last season.

Midema became the highest-scoring player with at least ten goals in four games at the Olympics in Japan last summer. He was caught by Orange on penalties in the quarterfinal against the United States. Miedema has also been Leuwinnen’s all-time top scorer for some time. Counter has scored 85 goals in 104 international matches.

“The records need to be improved and I hope someone will do it in the future, but I enjoy them now,” said Maidema, who is already looking forward to next year’s European Championships in the UK. “We are defending our title there. You want to express yourself in a match like this. I can not wait until it starts next summer.”

Midema was not seen at the Orange Exhibition game in The Hague against Japan on Monday evening. National coach Mark Parsons allows her to skip the friendly match. On Monday evening Meedema can win the personal prize. She was one of the twenty nominees for the Golden Ball in French football. League Martens (FC Barcelona) is one of them. During an evening in Paris, Golden Milk is served to both men and women.