• Spitse has competed in three FIFA Women's World Cups, with a runners-up finish in 2019

• She is one of the 26 female players who have played more than 200 international matches

• She was a part of the Netherlands team which won the UEFA European Women's Championship in 2017

Jayanta Oinam

"And suddenly my big dream is shattered. There are few words that can describe how unbelievably painful this hurts," Sherida Spitse said after suffering a knee injury just days ahead of the Netherlands' Tokyo Olympics opener against Zambia in Miyagi. Then 31, she was one of the star attractions in the women's football tournament. But "just bad luck" meant that the Dutch women were without their playmaker with 188 international caps; a bad tackle during a training session, and torn ligaments to blame for. The Oranje, also the nickname for the Netherlands women's team, reached the quarter-finals but lost to the United States of America on penalties in a repeat of 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup final. Fast forward to 2023, Sherida Spitse is one of the 26 women footballers to have played more than 200 international matches. Her 209 caps, at the time of writing, are also the most for the Netherlands, male or female – 53 more than the second in the list, Annemieke Kiesel, her former national teammate; and 75 more than Wesley Sneijder, the most-capped Dutch male player.

When the Netherlands women make the trip down to Australia and New Zealand in chase of the country's elusive World Cup glory in the middle of 2023, she will be leading the charge as the most experienced player. For Spitse, who will turn 33 in May, it will be her third World Cup, with a runners-up medal and a round of 16 appearance – experience wrought in heart-breaks. Ahead of her 200th match, against England in an international friendly at Elland Road in Leeds, Spitse said that she "can go on for another six years" and "an age is just an age, it's just a number. It's about how fit I feel and how much fun I continue to enjoy it... I've turned my hobby into my job. This is the most beautiful thing there is. I actually still feel like I’m getting fitter. If it can last that long, why not?" Sadly, it was a match Spitse & Co lost heavily (5-1) to the newly crowned continental champions, despite Lieke Martens, who just joined Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona, scoring the opener. Then, there's also the joy of scoring in a big final, in front of the home crowd for their only global title – the UEFA Women's Championship in 2017. After the group stage exit in the previous edition in Sweden four years ago, the Netherlands defeated Norway, Denmark and Belgium (group stage), Sweden and England before the finale against Denmark. At 2-2 in the title clash, Spitse gave her team a 3-2 lead, which eventually became 4-2 before the final whistle. Now, with more than 40 international goals, midfielder Sherida Spitse knows about the importance of goals. She was part of the Netherlands' team that failed to score in the FIFA Women's World Cup final defeat to the USA 2-0 four years ago and also to France by a solitary extra-time goal in the 2022 Euro quarter-finals. But Andries Jonker's Oranje have no dearth of attacking talent with the likes of Vivianne Miedema, Lieke Martens and Fenna Kalma in the ranks. Miedema is Netherlands' all-time leading scorer with 95 goals in 115 matches, while Martens has 55. Kalma, who only made her international debut in 2022 and played four matches so far, was the world's leading female scorer in the corresponding calendar year. The task of feeding them will be on Spitse and fellow midfielders Danielle van de Donk, Jackie Groenen, Victoria Pelova, and others. The Netherlands will start their 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup campaign with a Group E fixture against either Portugal or Cameroon/Thailand, who are pitted in the inter-confederation play-offs, on July 23 at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin. The group also has their old nemesis the USA, and tournament debutants Vietnam.

Known for her dominating presence in the midfield, a young Spitse would often compete in the boys' team for local outfit VV Sneek. In 2007, she left her hometown for SC Heerenveen and established herself as a professional, clocking 100 matches. There she was a part of the teams that won the first two BeNe League titles before the joint top-tier league for Belgium and the Netherlands was folded after three seasons in 2015. It was followed by stints with Twente in the Dutch Eredivisie, LSK Kvinner FK and Valerenga Fotball Damer in the Norwegian Toppserien. In 2021, as a 31-year-old, she joined Dutch giants Ajax. It was a move that helped Netherlands' most capped player to share her experience with the young crop. "What I want to do is help those girls if they have questions," she told Goal. "If I see something, then I go to them and talk to them to help... Nothing comes by doing nothing. You have to work really hard to achieve something and that is what I have done until now." Sherida Spitse, who made her international debut as a 16-year-old, "want to have more. That is what I always say to everyone, not only the young girls but also the girls that are 27, 28, 29 – but also to myself." And that is what she will be eager to do Down Under this summer.