Lieke Martens

Lieke Martens is a professional football player. Lieke Martens plays in the middle for FC Barcelona Femeni. She also participated in women’s national football matches for the Netherlands. Martens has goals for any female who wants to become well-known in the sport.

Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Women’s Player of the Year (WPOY) awards were given to Lieke in 2017.

Childhood & Family

Lieke Martens was born on December 16, 1962, in Bergen, Limburg, the Netherlands.

Her father, Berten Thea Martens, gave birth to her. Her mother’s name was nowhere to be found.

She has two brothers, Sjoerd Martens and Jelle Martens, as well as a sister named Mieke Martens.

She was raised in Bergen, a small Dutch village.

It has a population of only a few thousand and is located on the German border.

Even in urban areas, women’s football was not very popular at the time.

In actuality, they were not present for those living in the villages.

When she was younger, Lieke recalls how eager and enthusiastic she was to play football.

Due to the lack of female players in football at the time, she didn’t even have a role model.

She was unaware that there was a Dutch Women’s Football team.

As a result, she gave her dreams a new focus. She aspired to play for Ajax, her preferred Dutch team.

She wanted to play for the men’s football team, which might come as a surprise.

Net Worth & Earnings

Lieke Martens’ net worth is $1 million.

Martens receives a salary from FC Barcelona Femen of €180,000 ($213,951.20) each year.

According to rumors, that was specified in her contract with the team.

She is in her late 20s and makes a respectable living from her own labor.

Facts of Lieke Martens

The Very Small Steps

Football enthusiast Lieke cheered for Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho.

She recalled being taken by her mother to see her brothers play football. Even at the age of four, she was unable to keep herself away from the ball.

She used to wander the village while carrying a small ball. She was the young child with the tiny ball who the villagers used to recognize.

She recalled returning from school at three o’clock and playing football with her brothers and friends. Her buddies would play with their Barbies in the meanwhile.

The bigger males always allowed her to participate. They used to play games and practice. She occasionally played by herself with her cherished ball. It was the only friend she would ever require.

With her father, she worked out and practiced. For three to four years, he was her coach.

In reality, she engaged in playtime with the boys. She was aware of the social norms that would dictate that girls and boys couldn’t play football together.

She was proud and content to play for a club that wanted her rather than searching for girls-only clubs, which weren’t all that common in those days.

She was the lone girl who played football with the boys, and the locals knew this.

The Battle of Being a Woman

Lieke overheard a lot of criticism. Even before the game began, the female on the field was frequently questioned. People received the impression that she wouldn’t play well.

She acknowledges that a masculine physique is far more powerful than a feminine one. She was outpaced by the lads she played with.

The sight of a young girl jogging alongside the boys was unusual in the neighborhood. People hesitated to attend her performance.

Martens is content that she played with the boys until she was 16 though. She thinks that if she hadn’t played with the males, she wouldn’t be this good.

The guys used to unite in a high-five after her team triumphed. After that, they had a party in the locker room. While taking a shower in a different room, Martens used to hear them singing and partying.

She learned from the entire experience to never give up on her dreams, even when she was by alone.

Additionally, there were times when she used to doubt the direction she was taking. She was aware that she wouldn’t get what she wanted from the Ajax Men’s squad.

Following that, the little girl who was kicking the ball among the group of males was chosen for the Netherlands Under-19 National Football team.

International Football Career

Martens first made the under-19 women’s football squad when she was fifteen years old. She competed in the 2019 Under-19 European Championships on behalf of the Netherlands.

She asserted herself as the competition’s top scorer. Martens and German footballer Turid Knaak were deadlocked with four goals each.

The senior national team then chose her to play for them. In August 2011, she played in a friendly match against China for the senior team for the first time.

Martens was chosen by Roger Rejinars, the head coach of the Netherlands national team, to be a member of the team traveling to Sweden in June 2013 for the UEFA Women’s European Championship.

At the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada, Martens really scored the Netherlands’ first-ever World Cup goal.

Her three goals in The Netherlands’ successful 2017 UEFA Women’s European campaign are additional accomplishments.

Martens’ contributions to the game led to her inclusion in the 2017 UEFA Team of the Tournament. She was also awarded the Golden Ball and the Bronze Boot (third top scorer) (best player of the tournament).

She was also chosen for the final roster for the France 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She had a wound on her enormous toe.

She nevertheless scored goals for the Netherlands in a 2-1 triumph over Japan in the 16th game.

Foot (Injury)

Martens’ foot injury, which required her to leave the game against Sweden in the 2019 semifinals at halftime, disturbed everyone.

The issue came while she was celebrating Martens’ late winner in their victory against Japan when Jill Roord, another member of their team, trod on her toe.

Before taking on Italy, Martens was unable to train, but he managed to compete for 90 minutes. But as her discomfort grew worse at halftime, she left.

Club Career

Martens has had a career playing for various clubs.

2009 – 2011

She began her career in the Vrouwen Eredivisie with SC Heerenveen.

The top women’s football league in the Netherlands is called Vrouwen Eredivisie. In 2009 and 2010, she was connected to the SC Heerenveen.

The VVV-Venlo of the Vrouwen Eredivisie was then represented by her. Martens participated for them in 2010 and 2011.

Similar to this, she participated for the Belgian First Division A’s Standard Liège in 2011 and 2012. The top association football division in Belgium is known as Belgian First Division A or Belgian Pro League.

In her first game for the StandardLiège, Lieke scored twice. She subsequently won the BeNe Super Cup, a brand-new competition at the time, which was her first major victory.

2012 – 2015

From 2012 until 2014, Martens was then connected to the German Bundesliga team FCR 2001 Duisburg. German Bundesliga is a professional football league that is headquartered in Germany.

Prior to the 2014 season, she then signed with the Damallsvenskan team Kopparbergs/Göteborg. The top flight of Sweden’s women’s football league is called Damallsvenskan.

Martens made a forceful debut versus Vittsjö GIK. Despite playing with her right foot, she was able to play the left wing.

Stefan Rehn, a manager and coach for Swedish football, appreciated Martens’ game-playing technique. He commended her for working well with her countrywoman and center forward Manon Melis.

Martens later departed Götebort and signed a one-year contract with FC Rosengrd in the Damallsvenskan. In November 2015, the transition announcement was made.

Barcelona FC In July 2017, feminized Lieke joined FC Barcelona. She was more than happy to compete for the team against Ronaldinho and Messi, two of her sports heroes.

She made her FC Barcelona debut as a replacement in a 9-0 victory over Zaragoza CCF. Martens’ first goal came in a 10-0 victory over Santa Teresa.

Martens helped FC Barcelona get to the Women’s Champions League final of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

On May 18, 2017, in Budapest, FC Barcelona fell to Olympique Lyonnais by a score of 4-1. Martens has been a member of the squad for two years.

Honors & Awards

There’s a reason why Lieke is regarded as one of the best female football players. She has received a number of titles and honors.

Even if the list is lengthy, we think that Martens’ finest days are yet ahead of them.

For the Standard Liège, Clubs Martens won the BeNe Super Cup in 2011. She later helped FC Rosengrd win the Svenska Cupen in 2015–16.

For FC Rosengrd, she also won the Svenska Supercupen in 2016.

She also won the 2018 Copa de la Reina de Futebol for FC Barcelona Femen. Additionally, she was FC Barcelona’s champion in the Copa Catalunya in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Netherlands won the 2017 UEFA Women’s Championship thanks to international Martens and her team. With Martens by their side, the Netherlands also won the Algarve Cup in 2018.

Martens won a number of individual awards while competing in the international leagues.

The Best FIFA Women’s Player in 2017, the FIFPro World XI in 2017, the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 Player of the Tournament, and the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 UEFA Team of the Tournament are just a few examples.

She was also named one of the top 100 female football players in the world in 2017.

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Relationship Status

Benjamin Van Leer and Lieke Martens’ relationship is romantic in nature.

Another professional Dutch footballer is Benjamin Van Leer. He competes for Sparta Rotterdam in the Eredivisie as their goalkeeper.

Fame Martens is the first female football player to appear on a Camp Nou poster.

The Dutch superpower is inspiring pride among her people and among women throughout.

Height

Lieke Martens stands 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm).