'One of a kind' - Meet Europe's most-capped player

When the Netherlands face England in Zurich on Wednesday it will be a poignant moment for their veteran captain Sherida Spitse, regardless of the part she plays.

The 35-year-old made her 241st appearance for the Oranje Leeuwinnen in April, becoming the most-capped footballer in Europe in the process.

Curiously, the very first of those record-breaking outings came against England when Spitse was just 16.

Before her fifth European Championship, BBC Sport spoke to some of the coaches and players who have been part of her long career.

What shone through was not just their appreciation for the iconic Dutch midfielder's professionalism, leadership and technical ability, but Spitse's fun-loving nature.

"Sherida is one of a kind," says the Netherlands head coach Andries Jonker. "She has this outstanding skill of passing and shooting, of being a captain, and I don't know any player who has it in this way.

"She likes to laugh, to make fun, but on the other hand is also emotional, open, wears her heart on her sleeve, says what she feels or sees. Not the best player in the world, but she is a really special player."

Spitse was already a youth player for the Netherlands when she caught the attention of the senior set-up in 2006. Her performance alongside the boys of her hometown club VV Sneek convinced then national head coach Vera Pauw to fast-track the teenager.

"She was playing with the under-17s and I saw her and thought she is so stable and is playing in such a mature way that I want to see her at her club," recalled Pauw, who has also coached Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

"So, with my husband, I went to Sneek, met her parents and I was looking - can she handle the higher level? But she was a playmaker and the best of a team with all boys, so I invited her for a training camp straight after."

Spitse's elevation came as little surprise to anyone at VV Sneek. Team manager Martin van Klaveren remembers that even before she joined the club aged six, she could be seen kicking a ball around the neighbourhood.

"She was always with a ball under her arm, going in the field and practising by herself," he said. "Even as a little girl you could see she had a lot of talent.

"When she was old enough to join our club she played with all the guys and was equal to them. She had a very good shot and free-kick. At 12 she was captain because she stood out, the boys were full of respect for her."

These days, VV Sneek runs an annual tournament in Spitse's name. "There are lots of girls who have started to play because of Sherida," added Van Klaveren. "We are proud of her. She talks to everyone, is very open, she is still the same."

FC Utrecht youth head coach Sylvia Smit was 20, an international of two years' standing, when Spitse first joined the senior team. By 2012, the pair marked Smit's 100th cap for the Netherlands with a goal apiece against Wales.

Smit recalled Spitse's love of games, particularly poker, and the "fun" she brought to the squad as well as a determination to "give her all" on the pitch.

"Sherida was always cheerful and she radiated that," reflected the 38-year-old, who won 106 caps in her nine-year international career. "Her technical skills were already very good; she had a fantastic right foot shot and was the best at free-kicks."

Already confident of the youngster's technical ability, Pauw's main concern was how she would cope in an adult environment. But after seeing her "emotional stability" and "lightness around the group" the coach delivered a message that has helped keep Spitse grounded.

"I said to her we are going to be very careful with you because you have everything to become a legend in women's football in the future, but your book is empty so you need to write it, you're not there yet," revealed Pauw.

Three months after her 16th birthday, Spitse made her first entry in that "book", playing 55 minutes of a World Cup qualifier against England at The Valley. The Netherlands lost 4-0 at Charlton Athletic's ground, Kelly Smith scored a hat-trick, but Spitse was on her way.

Spitse was closing in on 140 appearances when she wrote one of the finest chapters of her international career - captaining her country to glory in front of record crowds on home soil at Euro 2017.

Handed the armband after the second match by then head coach - and current England boss - Sarina Wiegman, the set-piece specialist scored two vital group-stage penalties. Then, in a six-goal thriller against Denmark in the final, she unleashed an expertly placed free-kick to hand her team a lead they never relinquished.

Ever-present throughout that tournament, Spitse missed just 20 minutes of her side's run to the World Cup final two years later under Wiegman again, where they lost to the USA.

It had been a different story for Spitse and the Netherlands, though, at Euro 2009 - their first major tournament.

Spitse was 19 with 35 caps by then, but with Pauw largely fielding the same starting XI in Finland, she watched every minute from the bench, including an extra-time semi-final loss to England.

"She never, ever, said anything negative about it," said Pauw. "That's exactly what I meant when I said she had everything within her to become a legend because it was just football. She understood the unwritten laws of elite sport.

"I think everybody will say that, she puts football first and always knew what was needed to perform at that level and to grow."

Part of that growth has been the development of Spitse as a leader, a quality that current Netherlands boss Jonker says he saw in her within days of his appointment in 2022 and one that he believes his players appreciate in her too.

"Within her character, there is this leadership, of being the boss, so she tells the team we are leaving, we are stopping, we're waiting," he explains.

"The older players are used to her, they know this is who she is and this is what she does, and they accept it, even if they don't agree, they think 'this is what Sherida wants, it's OK', because they know there's always a good intention behind the things she says or does, and the younger players have huge, huge respect for her."

Despite her continued presence at the top of the international game, her domestic career has been played outside of Europe's top five leagues - with Dutch sides SC Heerenveen, Twente and Ajax, as well as Norwegian teams LSK Kvinner and Valerenga.

Today, Spitse continues to show her leadership skills as captain of a young group at Ajax, where she recently signed a new two-year contract flanked by her two children, her parents and siblings.

Described by technical director Alex Kroes as "a natural leader and model professional", her worth to the club she has supported since childhood is clear, as is her contribution to women's football.

"Sherida's been around for a very, very long time, she's always played, she's helped the game grow in visibility," added Netherlands team-mate Vivianne Miedema. "In that way she is a leader and we need people like that in football to inspire others to start playing."

For all her success, however, Spitse has still faced criticism as one of the older members of the Netherlands' 'Golden Generation'.

But Jonker said he did not hand her the record-breaking 241st cap as a "present" but because she was "needed" in their Women's Nations League clash with Austria that day.

And he believed that after working even harder this past year, Spitse - who has recently been used in defence - has proved the doubters wrong.

"Her influence on the team is being a leader outside the pitch, but also on the pitch being able to lead the team, to coach the team," added Jonker.

"She is in great shape and as fit as the youngsters. This year, she has convinced everybody and nobody has any doubt about her position in the squad. It's a victory for her."