Chasing My Dream

Kassandra Missipo, Belgium

For the UEFA Women's EURO 2022, Goal Click collaborated with twelve international women’s footballers from across the competing Women’s Euro nations. The players, from Netherlands and Denmark to Portugal and Switzerland, documented their football lives in the weeks leading up to the tournament – finishing club seasons, playing in cup finals, national team training camps, international friendlies, and even the first matches of the Euros.

Kassandra Missipo plays for Swiss Women's Super League club FC Basel and the Belgium women's national team.

Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your football journey?

My name is Kassandra Missipo and I have played soccer since the age of 5. Ever since I was little, I was interested in soccer and played it everywhere. I always dreamed of making my passion into my job. Women’s soccer was still rare, so I started playing at a local club where only boys played. I played there until the age of 17, as I had to switch to women’s soccer because the physical difference was getting bigger. I was sad at first: I felt at home with the boys, and they supported me because they saw I had a lot of talent. I was one of them. But after some time, I found my way and started improving and accomplished great things within Belgian football, playing in the Champions League, winning the Belgian championship and the Belgian Cup twice.

Life as a player is not always easy in Belgium. You must combine everything – work, study, and football - I did that until I finished my degree. It took a lot of energy - I was exhausted a lot. I still managed to get somewhere in my career, but maybe I would be further if I had been a professional. 

Then I tore my ACL. It was one of the most difficult challenges in my life. It was a mental game, especially because I had to go through two surgeries and the rehab was not as fluent as I thought it would be in the beginning. I could not do the sport I love. It was stressful and exhausting. I had to sacrifice a lot of time and financially my life was not balanced either.

The best option would have been to stop playing, because it will never give the same financial return as a normal job. But on the other hand, I learned a lot. I improved as a player and person. I had a lot of support from my friends and family. I listened more to my body and started to go out of my comfort zone. I did not want to settle anymore for less that I am worth, and I wanted to go to into a more professional environment to grow.

That is why I went abroad to continue chasing my dream - to play at a big club where everything is professional. I need to make sure that I can live from soccer not only for me now, but for my future kids and family. On the way to that dream, you sacrifice a lot of your personal time with family or friends. And the people around you sacrifice their time too to support you.

I feel I improve every day, but I still have a hell of a way to go. Maybe I even need some extra sacrifices to get there. I have the belief to get there one day. I will not give up until I can say I am where I want to be.

Was there any wider meaning with the photos? What does representing your country mean to you?

I wanted to show our life with the national team. We have a life we dreamed of - travels, training, food, recovery. It is a professional environment of high performance. I hope I can have these types of moments more often.

We always say that when we go back home “we go back to reality”. Because for a lot of players life outside of the national team is not professional and with bad infrastructure. The national team in Belgium is more professional than any club in Belgium. So we enjoy every moment to get better, we are grateful. I wanted to show how we should be treated every day and not occasionally when we represent our country. I believe if we could always get the same treatment, we could move mountains with this team. For the moment we are only at 70% of what we can really do.

Representing my country means a lot to me. It is always an honour to be one of the warriors helping your country achieve a historic moment. I always enjoy every moment that I represent my country and can show the fans and my country what I am worth. I hope we progress in the Euros and then qualify for the first time for the World Cup.

What are the current opportunities for female footballers in Belgium?

Since I started playing in the Belgian women’s competition, the intensity and frequency changed. There has been progress in each club to train more often and more specifically, like doing more strength or functional training, and injury prevention. This has improved the talent and quality of players.

However, it is important that each club now makes it possible to give each player a decent full-time professional contract. There are still a lot of players who are semi-professional or amateur. They train fully, but they still must work alongside football to make a good salary.

I am convinced Belgium can still improve a lot and believe if they make that step the national team and Belgian competition will reach a higher performance level and can finally do big things in important tournaments.

What is the future for Belgian women's football?

The attention around Belgian women’s football is growing. That means there is more money flowing to invest in soccer. I expect that in a few years clubs will have no other choice but to make their players professional. Players speak up more these days, they have more attention and ears that listen to them.  Clubs will have no choice than to see the benefits of investing in women’s soccer. But it will take time, it will not happen in one of two years, but maybe in five!