Fatima Moreira de Melo (born 4 July 1978) is a former Dutch
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...
player and professional
poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
player of Portuguese descent. She has played 191 international matches for the
Dutch national team
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, where she has scored 30 times. De Melo's debut match was on 21 October 1997 against Germany, which ended in a 2–1 victory for The Netherlands. She plays on the position of
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
. In the Dutch national competition she has played for Tempo '34,
HGC HGC can stand for:
* Human Genetics Commission
* Hercules Graphics Card
* H.O.C. Gazellen-Combinatie, a Dutch field hockey club
* HGC Global Communications, an internet service provider in Hong Kong
* HGC (field hockey)
H.O.C. Gazellen-Combinatie, ...
and HC Rotterdam. De Melo was part of the Dutch squad that became World Champion at the
2006 Women's Hockey World Cup
The 2006 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 11th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup field hockey tournament. It was held from 27 September to 8 October 2006 in Madrid, Spain.
The Netherlands won the tournament for the sixth time after defeat ...
and which won the
2007 Champions Trophy. In December 2006, she became
Rotterdam Sportswoman of the Year and became the new face of the
Rabobank in their Dutch TV advertisements.
At the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, she won an Olympic gold medal with the
Dutch national team
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
beating
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in the final 2–0.
Besides playing field hockey, de Melo also studied at the
Erasmus University Rotterdam where she obtained an
LL.M.
A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
degree in
Criminal law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
in 2006. She furthermore has presented TV programs for both local and national TV stations. She also has a
career
The career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work and other aspects of life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways.
Definitions
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defin ...
as a singer. She performed the theme song for the
International Hockey Federation
The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: International Hockey Federation), commonly known by the acronym and initialism, acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are i ...
's ''International Year of the Youth'' at the closing of the 2001 Men's World Cup Hockey Qualifier in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. De Melo's father is a
Portuguese diplomat stationed in the Netherlands. Her boyfriend is pro-tennis player
Raemon Sluiter
Raemon Sluiter (born 13 April 1978) is a Dutch former professional tennis player and current coach. His career-high ATP singles ranking is World No. 46, achieved in February 2003. Though he achieved only limited success during his professional ...
.
De Melo belonged to the Team PokerStars: Sportstars, and one could find her playing tournaments behind the nickname FatimaDeMelo on the PokerStars online poker card room. She left her role as Sporting Icon Pro in early 2020.
References
External links
*
Official site for her music career*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moreira De Melo, Fatima
1978 births
Living people
Dutch female field hockey players
Dutch people of Portuguese descent
Female poker players
Field hockey players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Field hockey players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Field hockey players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands
Olympic field hockey players for the Netherlands
Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands
Olympic medalists in field hockey
Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands
Sportspeople from Rotterdam
HGC (field hockey) players
HC Rotterdam players