Kassandra Missipo

Kassandra grew up in an apartment overlooking the Asse-Terheide football pitch, where she would watch the matches from her bedroom and dream of playing there herself.

At the age of five, Kassandra received a small goal and a football, but practising inside the family’s apartment created plenty of noise and occasionally left something broken.

Kassie played in boys’ teams until the age of 17 and believes those physical, competitive years helped shape the “pitbull” style she later became known for.

Ronaldinho was Kassandra’s childhood idol, and she kept his picture in her bedroom while imagining that they might one day play together.

Alongside her football career, Kassandra studied communication management and spent several years balancing her education with the demands of elite sport.

Kassandra launched the Instagram project Empowerment Loading to encourage people to speak out against judgement, hatred and discrimination.

Before tearing her ACL, Kassandra had already warned that the worn artificial pitch was dangerous for players’ knees — only to suffer the injury herself there in stoppage time.