Netherlands look to Beerensteyn in the absence of star player Miedema
Miedema's importance to her nation can't be overstated. The Arsenal forward has 95 goals in 115 international matches and scored eight times in seven games during qualifying for the upcoming tournament. Given that, it was nothing short of a disaster when an ACL tear in December ruled her out of it.
One of manager Andries Jonker's top priorities immediately became to find the best possible replacement for her, and his search has led him to Beerensteyn.
Many thought FC Twente's Fenna Kalma, who got 30 goals in 20 Eredivisie games last season, would be the one to take Miedema's place, but she didn't even make the final World Cup squad. That's partly because she failed to impress in the handful of internationals she played in the build-up to this summer, and party because Beerensteyn did.
As well as getting 11 goals in 21 Serie A games in her first season in Italy, the Juventus forward has scored five goals in her last six games for her country, performing well up front despite the fact that she's a winger by nature.
Beerensteyn is by no means a world-class finisher, missing her fair share of chances, but her pace and movement ensure she gets plenty of them, and she has the ability to create them for others too.
She perhaps isn't complete enough to play as the team's lone striker at the highest level, but her manager has accounted for this, switching from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 system that suits her perfectly.
In the system, she has the freedom to drift out wide into spaces in which she's more comfortable. What's more, with strike partner Lieke Martens - a former FIFA Player of the Year looking to get back to her best - dropping deep to collect the ball, she can focus mainly on staying high up the pitch and using her blistering pace to get in behind the opposition backline.
The fact that she can remain in such advanced positions is how she scored in the friendly against Belgium earlier this month. Waiting just outside the penalty area, she headed a long ball down to Martens before getting it back and firing into the far-right corner.
In the same game, she also won two penalties for her team and was one of the biggest threats on the pitch throughout, thriving in a role that looked tailor-made for her.
Beerensteyn would probably be the first to admit that she can't replace a player as obscenely good as Miedema all by herself but with Martens alongside her in a front two shouldering the creative burden, she could well fill the goalscoring role that Miedema has been playing for the last decade.
If she can and the two can develop a strong partnership, the Netherlands could well become a bigger contender in Australia and New Zealand than many are giving them credit for at the moment.
Right now, precious few think the Euro 2017 champions have much of a chance of reaching their second consecutive World Cup final but don't rule them out just yet.
The Netherlands begin their World Cup campaign on Sunday against Portugal.
