Oranje’s Lieke Martens has been named best female football player in the world by world football body Fifa.



Martens, voted player of the tournament when the Dutch women won the European title this summer, is a ‘vastly talented 24-year-old left winger… though there was more to her performance than mere statistics,’ Fifa said. ‘Martens proved the most elusive of dribblers and set the tempo for her side, showing her innate ability to read the game.’

Martens was not at the ceremony in London to receive the award because she and the rest of the team are in training ahead of tonight’s World Cup qualifier against Norway.

Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman was named the best Fifa’s women’s coach with the organisation praising the ‘brand of attacking football that brought an end to Germany’s run of six successive European trophies’.