Lieke Martens is one of the most talented stars in women’s football. She plays for the Netherlands women’s national team as well as for Barcelona as a midfielder. She started her professional career in 2009 for Heerenveen before she got the opportunity to represent her country the next year at the Under-19 level. Since then, she has risen to the top of her career, going on to play for some of the best clubs in the world, and winning some of the most coveted trophies available in women’s soccer.
Biography of Lieke Martens
It was as Lieke Elisabeth Petronella Martens the footballer was born in Bergen, the Netherlands on 16 December 1992 which means she is currently 32 years old.
She was also brought up in her home country alongside three siblings- two brothers Sjoerd Martens and Jelle Martens and a sister, Mieke Martens. Although it is known that her father’s name is Berten Thea Martens, the name of her mother is not known.
Lieke fell in love with football at an early age and is blessed with a wonderful family that has supported her dreams from the very go. She credits them for her change from a small girl whose role model was a male player to a successful female player and role model to many girls.
Martens describes her mother as a very supportive figure in her path, especially at a time when other mothers wanted their girls to do girly things like playing with dolls. Her dad coached for about four years alongside his male team and ensured she was treated like other players.
Growing up, she watched her elder brothers play a lot and couldn’t wait to play too. When she was finally allowed to play, she joined them and their friends in playing football at every slight opportunity. She was only five years old when she joined RKVV Montagnards where she started learning football in 1997. In 2005, she moved to Olympia ’18 where she played until she joined Hogeschool van Amsterdam in 2008.
A Look At Her Club Career
Lieke Martens began her professional football career with the Dutch Women’s football club, Sportclub Heerenveen Vrouwen in the 2009- 2010 season. When VVV-Venlo was founded in 2010, Lieke moved to the club and participated in the 2010- 2011 Eredivisie season with them.
By the next season (2011- 2012), she had joined Belgium’s most honored football team, Standard Fémina de Liège. Her two goals in her first match with Standard Liège contributed to winning the BeNe Super Cup on 30th August 2011. Standard won FC Twente in a 4- 1 victory.
Elisabeth played two seasons (2012 through 2014) with the 2000 Bundesliga champions, Frauen-Bundesliga before joining Kopparbergs/ Göteborg for the 2014- 2015 season. Her incredible performance and 12 goals scored for the club earned her praises from Stefan Rehn.
The 5 feet 7 inches tall midfielder cum forward played in The Damallsvenskan in the 2015- 2016 season as a member of the Swedish club, FC Rosengård. Her move to FC Rosengård was scheduled for just a year, during which the Cup’s defending champions took second place.
On the 12th of July 2017, Martens joined Futbol Club Barcelona Femení. This move was dream come true for her as she has always had Ronaldinho as her role model. She was really excited about her move to Barça and how professional they really are. The club has won two titles in this time, the Copa Catalunya in 2017 and the Copa de la Reina de Fútbol in 2018.
She Has A Great International Career
Lieke also plays for her national football team. She joined the Netherlands U19 in 2010. In the 2010 UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship held in the Republic of Macedonia, Martens and German footballer, Turid Knaak tied as the tournament’s top goalscorers with 4 goals each. This was a tremendous feat for the then 18-year-old.
Her debut senior match was in a friendly game against China in 2011. In 2013, she was picked on the Netherlands squad for Women’s Euro 2013.
In the Canada-hosted FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015, Lieke scored the team’s first-ever goal at a World Cup. She also assisted the Netherlands team to win their first title in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 hosted by the country. The champions earned the prize money of €1,200,000. This earned the midfielder the following awards:
- Golden Ball as Best Player of the Tournament.
- Bronze Boot as the Tournament’s number three-goal scorer.
- An inclusion in the 2017 UEFA Team of the Tournament.
The Netherlands team was also one of the two champions in the 2018 Algarve Cup. Her three goals in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualification contributed to the team’s qualification for the play-off and ultimate qualification for France 2019.
More so, she was called for the country’s Olympic campaign in Tokyo Japan in 2021.
See Also: Who Is Crystal Dunn? Bio, Age, Facts, Salary, And Net Worth
Does Lieke Martens Have A Husband?
It is known that the Barcelona star footballer is still not married, but she is currently in a relationship with her boyfriend, Benjamin van Leer who is also a footballer. He plays as a goalkeeper for Sparta Rotterdam. They both confirmed that they were dating in 2018 and since then, they only seem to be getting stronger as lovers. In November 2021, they took the next step by getting engaged.
The Stats Of The Footballer
- Heerenveen (2009- 2010): 18 appearances, 2 goals.
- VVV-Venlo (2010- 2011): 20 apps, 9 goals.
- Standard Liège (2011- 2012): 25 apps, 17 goals.
- Duisburg (2012- 2014): 30 apps, 7 goals.
- Kopparbergs/ Göteborg (2014- 2015): 37 apps, 12 goals.
- FC Rosengård (2016- 2017): 29 apps, 20 goals.
- FC Barcelona (2017- ): 89 apps, 38 goals.
A Look At Her Salary And Net Worth
The Dutch player’s move to Barcelona placed her on a contract with a yearly salary of €180,000. With that said, she has a net worth that is estimated at $2 million.
Considered to be one of the most marketable women in football, she makes her fortune from the many endorsements deals she has had through the years. Among her many deals are with brands such as:
- Nike
- PepsiCo
- Lay’s
- Zinzi
- OTRO
- Nissan
Interesting Facts About Her
1. She appeared in a commercial with Lionel Messi
The footballer appears in a Lay’s campaign in 2021 with Barcelona teammate, Lionel Messi.
2. She came close to winning all the major trophies in women’s football
In 2019, she came close to winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup with the Netherlands but was edged out by the United States at the finals. However, she has won other important trophies including the UEFA Women’s Champions League with Barcelona in 2021.
3. Mertens has won some important individual awards
Apart from her achievements with her country and clubs, the midfielder was also named The Best FIFA Women’s Player in 2017. She was also nominated for the first two editions of the Women’s Ballon d’Or in 2018 and 2019.
4. Is she really the most beautiful sportswoman in the Netherlands?
In 2021, Lieke Martens was named by FHM Nederland as the country’s most beautiful woman for that year.
5. She is not the tallest footballer
While she has continued to make many exploits along the way, Lieke Martens is not the tallest player by any stretch. She stands at only 5 feet 7 inches tall and has a body weight of 66 kg.
Discussion about this post