Lien Mermans (born 27 September 1990) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder who last played for VC Moldavo.

Club career

Mermans started her senior career at Vlimmeren, which later became known as Women's Department Lierse SK. After 1 year with DVC Eva's Tienen, she returned to Lierse where she played from 2010 until 2016. During that period, they won the Belgian Cup twice. At the end of the 2015/16 season, Lierse's women's department folded because of financial problems and Mermans subsequently joined

KRC Genk Ladies KRC Genk Ladies is a Belgian women's football club based in Genk. It is the women's section of KRC Genk The club was formed as a merger of clubs from Lanaken and Zonhoven in 2013, and has been known as Ladies Genk since 2015 when they relocate ...

. Her first year at Genk saw some good performances rewarded with "The Sparkle" trophy - the women's equivalent of the

Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...

. She missed out on most of the 2017/18 season and the

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women's national team ...

tournament because of an inflammation on the heart muscle. At the end of 2018, Mermans announced her retirement from the national team and signed for D1 team VC Moldavo.

International career

Mermans was a long-time member of the Belgian women's national team. At youth level she played for U-15, U-17 and U-19. On sep. 5, 2009 she earned her first cap for the senior team in a friendly game against Romania where she substituted

Femke Maes Femke Maes (; born 22 February 1980) is a Belgian former footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Maes played for six different clubs and featured in the Belgium national team from 1996 to 2009. She kept the record of top scorer for Belgi ...

in the 88th minute. The match ended in a 2-7 win for Belgium. The first time she scored was on 20 juni 2012, during a qualification match for

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for List of women's national association football teams#UEFA, women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament ...

in an away game against

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. Mermans started the match and scored 0-1 in the 13th minute. Mermans' 48th and final cap was in a friendly against Scotland on 11 April 2017, where she scored 2-0 in the 46th minute. The game ended in a 5-0 victory.

Personal life

Mermans works full-time as a physical education teacher.

Career statistics

;International

Honours

;Lierse SK Runners-up *

Belgian Women's Super Cup Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

: 2012–13 ;Individual * Winner of The Sparkle trophy: 2017

References

External links

* * 1990 births Living people Belgian women's footballers Women's association football forwards Belgium women's international footballers Lierse SK (women) players BeNe League players Super League Vrouwenvoetbal players KRC Genk Ladies players {{Belgium-women-footy-bio-stub