Arsenal star Vivianne Miedema has confirmed that she has sustained an anterior cruciate ligament rupture during the UEFA Women's Champions League game against Lyon last week at the Emirates.
The Dutch striker was stretched off during the game at the Emirates, much to the concern of the club and their fans.
Her statement read: "Absolutely gutted to share I’ve ruptured my ACL in our last game against Lyon. It was one of those moments, where I knew straight away. So many things going through your head.
“I won’t be able to help my team anymore this season, no World Cup, surgery and rehab for a long time.
It continued: “I won’t be telling you I'll come back stronger or that I'm looking forward to spending the next however many months in the gym. It will be tough with plenty of difficult days (plenty of crying, which we’ve had a lot of already) but sadly enough it’s a part of football.
“For now, I’ll be getting myself ready for surgery and it's time for a much-needed Christmas break.”
The footage of Thursday evening's game revealed the striker clutching her left knee after twisting it uncontested in the dying minutes of the first half and immediately surrounded by Arsenal shirts and was stretchered off, in tears, with teammate and girlfriend Beth Mead closely in tow, also on crutches.
Mead ruptured her ACL at the Emirates Stadium in their dramatic 3-2 loss against Manchester United and is in a race against the clock to return before the World Cup in the summer and fears of another injury concerning the ACL loomed over Arsenal.
The 26-year-old joins a long list of ACL injuries in the Women's Super League such as: Aston Villa’s Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah and Simone Magill. Everton’s Nicoline Soren, Manchester United’s Aoife Manion, Reading’s Emma Harries, Tottenham Hotspur’s Ellie Brazil and Kyah Simon and West Ham’s Jess Ziu and Arsenal’s Beth Mead who suffered the same injury just weeks before.
Mead’s tweet read: “STRONGER TOGETHER! So I was given sympathy for 3 weeks and now she has to go get some of her own but we got this, YOU got this.”
Miedema struggled to get going this season due to illness at the Euros that led into a fixture heavy schedule for Arsenal, but after being granted an extended leave of absence over the November international break, she was back to winning ways.
In the Gunners' 1-1 draw against Juventus, Miedema nodded home the equaliser on the hour mark to secure a crucial point for their Champions League campaign, it was named Arsenal’s November Goal of the Month.
Frida Maanum delivered a deep corner that Miedema jumped to meet and head into the back of the net nine minutes after going a goal behind. The goal received 27% of the votes while Laura Wienroither’s volley against Manchester United came in a close second place with 25% of the vote.
Steph Catley’s goal straight from a corner against Leicester City came third with 21% as the women's team locked out the top three places in a contest that cuts across both men's and womens sides.
NEW! Our Year: European Champions 2022 - The Official England Winners Book
With a foreword by England manager Sarina Wiegman, this is the only official book of the historic triumph, reliving every kick of a thrilling tournament and telling the stories of the players who made it all happen.
Order from https://reachsportshop.com/book/our-year-european-champion-2022/
