ENSCHEDE, August 5, 2017 – A note on the club SVValkenswaard website announces that on Sunday it will be possible to watch thefinal of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 between the Netherlands and Denmark on abig screen.
The announcement is accompanied by a photo of the localhero: Danielle Van de Donk, Arsenal Ladies’ midfielder and starter in the Dutchwomen’s line-up.
Valkenswaard is the home town of Van de Donk, a city ofabout 30,000 in the North Brabant province.
Van de Donk began playing football when she was only agirl with local SV Valkenswaard. That was about 20 years before the UEFAWomen’s Euro semifinal between the Netherlands and England, the best night forVan de Donk in the national kit.
In the 62nd minute the Dutch midfielder scored the secondgoal of the ultimate 3-0, punishing a misplaced pass by Fara Williams.Surprisingly, the screen of the FC Twente Stadium of Enschede showed LiekeMartens as the scorer - an error perhaps caused by the fact that Van De Donkdoes not score as frequently as Martens or Vivianne Miedema.
The match showed fully how her support work in the Oranjemidfield is an irreplaceable contribution to the team trained by SarinaWiegman.
She is a set of scales for the Netherlands, an element ofbalance in the attacking style of the Dutch squad. In this sense, sherepresents a different kind of No10, as focused and gifted on the attackingfront as on the interception and pressing actions.
Van de Donk was chosen by UEFA as player of the matchagainst England, a prize that she wanted to shared with her team-mates.
After the match, at the press conference, she said:"I guess it was my best match with the national shirt. I won this prizebut all the team played a beautiful match. I am really proud of the group.”
Coincidentally Van de Donk played her best game with thenational team against her Arsenal team-mates such as Alex Scott, Jordan Nobbs,Fara Williams and Jodie Taylor.
Van de Donk's journey towards her best match in the UEFAWomen’s Euro started with SV Valkenswaard and then the VV UNA youth sector.
In 2008, at 17, she joined Willem II in the DutchEredivisie and four years later moved to VVV Venlo. Her national team debutarrived at the City of Sao Paolo tournament in 2010.
Two years later she joined PSV Eindhoven, scoring 30goals in 53 appearances with the club. In 2015, after a six-month parenthesiswith Sweden's Kopparbergs/Goteborg FC, she signed for Arsenal with whom she wonthe FA Cup in 2016.
Van de Donk, before the current Euro, was also seectedfor Euro 2013 in Sweden and the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.
On the eve of the UEFA Women’s EURO final, Van de Donkturns 26. The birthday party has had to be postponed. On Sunday, theNetherlands will need all the quality and sacrifice of Danielle Van de Donk, amodern No10.
