How partners Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema are dealing with their ‘inevitable’ clash

Just last month, football duo Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema celebrated the three-year anniversary of their relationship.

On Wednesday (9 July), they will become rivals for their respective national teams as England take on the Netherlands at UEFA Women’s EURO 2025.

Each of them has already featured at the tournament, Miedema scoring a sublime goal to kickstart a Dutch masterclass against debutants Wales.

Mead and England, meanwhile, succumbed to the quality of France as they were on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline.

The pair watched the draw for the finals happen in real time, feeling the pitting of their nations against one another was inevitable.

“When the draw was made, we both sat there and said, ‘of course that’s happened!”, Mead told BBC Sport.

Their solution to facing each other on the international stage? Simple: Don’t talk about it.

“We keep in contact but when it gets closer to our games, we don’t talk about football whatsoever,” the English forward continued.

“We’re both very, very competitive and professional. We’re excited for the tournament and to be able to play in it again.

“Obviously we want each other to do well, but not against each other!”

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