van VEENENDAAL Sari

Date of Birth: 3 Apr 1990

Age: 31

Gender: Female

Height (m/ft): 1.80/5'10''

Place of birth: NIEUWEGEIN

Birth Country:

Netherlands

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Football	Women NED Netherlands	5

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Miyagi Stadium	Women's Group F #04 ZAM Zambia 3 NED Netherlands 10	Finished
	Miyagi Stadium	Women's Group F #10 NED Netherlands 3 BRA Brazil 3	Finished
	International Stadium Yokohama	Women's Group F #15 NED Netherlands 8 CHN China 2	Finished
	International Stadium Yokohama	Women's Quarter-final #20 NED Netherlands 2 (2) USA United States 2 (4) PSO	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

FIFA Women's World Cup

Rank	Event	Year	Location
2	Senior	2019	France
13	Senior	2015	Canada

UEFA Women's Championship

Rank	Event	Year	Location
1	Senior	2017	Netherlands

The Orange Wall (linda.nl, 08 Jul 2019)

Occupation:

Languages spoken:

PSV [Eindhoven, NED] since 2020

Sander Luiten [club], NED; Sarina Wiegman [national], NED

Position style:

Goalkeeper (Twitter profile, 13 Nov 2019)

2011 for Netherlands Against Switzerland, in Larnaca, Cyprus (arsenal.com, 15 Aug 2015)

An injury in late 2018 ruled her out of action for several months with club side Arsenal and the Dutch national team for their final 2019 World Cup qualifying matches. She returned to action before the end of the 2018/19 season. (trouw.nl, 01 Jun 2019)

National league:

Eredivisie [NED] (flowsports.nl, 01 Jul 2020)

She joined an amateur football club, SV Saestum, at age 12 in De Bilt, Netherlands. She joined top division side FC Utrecht at age 17. "In the beginning I did not know that I wanted to become a professional football player." (businessinsider.nl, 04 Jul 2019)

Her father used to take her to watch FC Utrecht matches. She became a goalkeeper because she liked taking responsibility for stopping or conceding goals. "I can't stand losing, but I also can't stand blaming others. I like to be in control. My strength is reflexes in stopping shots. Between the goal line and the six-yard box is my strongest area, because I am quite tall for a female goalkeeper." (businessinsider.nl, 04 Jul 2019; linda.nl, 08 Jul 2019)

She likes to juggle in the dressing room to relax before a match, using whatever is available - balls, tape, bottles, apples. "I have to focus so much on juggling that I don't have time to think about other things. It helps me deal with the tension. I see it as a kind of ritual, but if there is not enough time I don't worry that things will go wrong on the field. But it has become something familiar that I enjoy doing." (businessinsider.nl, 04 Jul 2019)

She was named the 2019 Women's Goalkeeper of the Year by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics [IFFHS]. She was also named in the 2019 IFFHS Women's World Team of the Year. (iffhs.de, 27 Nov 2019, 30 Nov 2019)

She was named the 2019 FIFA Women's Goalkeeper of the Year by the International Federation of Association Football [FIFA]. (fifa.com, 23 Sep 2019)

She was voted Best Goalkeeper [Golden Glove award] at the 2019 World Cup in France. She was also named Player of the Match in the 2019 World Cup Final. (onefootball.com, 20 Jul 2019; independent.co.uk, 07 Jul 2019)

She was named in the Best XI of Euro 2017, captaining the Netherlands in every game as they won the competition on home soil. (independent.co.uk, 07 Jul 2019)

General Interest

General
RETURN TO THE NETHERLANDS
In May 2020 she returned to the Netherlands to join Eredivisie side PSV. She had played the previous five years abroad, first joining English club Arsenal before moving to Spanish club Atletico Madrid in 2019. "I had a great time in England, and I had a great time in Spain. There comes a time to return to the Netherlands. The Eredivisie has moved on since I last played." (psv.nl, 18 May 2020; womenssoccerunited.com, 15 May 2020)

POST-EURO BLUES
She says she struggled with motivation after captaining the Netherlands to victory at Euro 2017 on home soil. "I didn't know if there would ever be a new goal that could surpass what we had achieved. The whole of the Netherlands got behind us. But then after I began to think, 'And what now?' I struggled with that for a long time. There were days when I asked myself what am I actually doing it all for? Then I realised that it was a natural phase to go through, and ultimately that led to a change." (businessinsider.nl, 04 Jul 2019)

LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL
She has contemplated life after retiring from football. "I studied sports marketing, so it's possible that I could put that degree to use. But if you asked me now, I would prefer to open my own coffee shop. During the World Cup in Canada [2015] I started drinking coffee. I always enjoyed having a cup of coffee, and now it has become a moment of relaxation." (voetbalshop.nl, 01 Aug 2017)

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event
PSO:: Penalty Shoot-out

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