Monday, February 21, 2022 at 6:33 PM• Jeroen van Poppel

Vanity Lewerissa was told a few weeks ago that she has breast cancer, the 30-year-old attacker of Standard Liège reports on Instagram. “A path that you would rather not walk in your life. We are going for it, with two legs stretched out. Lets beat this“, writes Lewerissa, who played eighteen times for the the Dutch Lionesses and was in the selection at the 2015 World Cup and European Championship 2017.

Standard Liège reacts shocked to the bad news. “It is clear that this goes far beyond the sporting aspect and that this news comes as a huge shock to the entire squad,” the club wrote on its website. “The club, the staff and the players will stand behind her at all times to help her in her fight against illness. Vanity, there is no doubt that your strong character will enable you to overcome this ordeal.”

Lewerissa is supported on Instagram by former teammates such as Kika van Es, Lieke Martens, Shanice van de Sanden, Sherida Spitse and Anouk Hoogendijk. She played three seasons in the Netherlands for both PSV and Ajax. At the latter club she thought she would say goodbye to professional football last summer, but she decided to return to Standard Liège a little later. She also won four national titles at that club between 2011 and 2015. Between 2015 and 2018 she played for the Dutch, although she usually had a supporting role there.