Cassie Lee
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A football player who competes in the World Cup as part of the team from the People’s Democratic Social Republic of Ariddia.
Status: retired
First appearance: World Cup 32
Last appearance: World Cup 36
Caps (after World Cup 35): 20
Goals (after World Cup 35): n/a
Cassandra Katrijn “Twinkle” Lee (이 갓시, cassielee), born in Ewehl, Wueliw island, Ariddia, was the main goalkeeper of the PDSRA’s national team.
Lee is an only child, of predominantly Korean ethnic descent, although her maternal grandmother is an Uhuh-Ropean baroness, and a distant relative of King Seth I of Uhuh-Ropa. Consequently, Cassie is 141st in the line of succession for the Uhuh-Ropean throne, and, although Uhuh-Ropean law does not entitle her to be addressed as “Princess”, her friends sometimes refer to her by that title nonetheless. Her paternal grandfather is an Ariddian Arctic Islander, which enables her to hold Arctic Islander citizenship by descent.
She studied psychology at the Southern University in Wavecrest, earning a Master's degree, and initially worked as an air hostess for Ariddian Airlines. She now lives in Combienbar, Errinundera, where she is training to be a firefighter. In addition to French, English and Wymgani, she speaks fluent Dutch and Korean.
Lee attracted the attention of the Ariddian Football Association when she was seen playing for the football team of her university. The AFA were so impressed that she was rapidly offered the position of third goalkeeper on the national team. At just 1m61, she was undoubtedly one of the shortest national team goalkeepers in the world.
When she first appeared in the media, Lee instantly got the nation’s attention, and many took a liking to this short, bubbly, highly skilled air hostess-cum-football player who also happened to be a foreign royal. Her good looks probably helped, too, combined with a charming personality; a poll has rated her the “cutest woman in Ariddia”.
Her nickname, “Twinkle”, derives in part from that personality, and in part from the glitter she sometimes wears.
She has stated that she has a liking for “chocolate, literature, anything pink, and Korean classical music”.
In terms of religious adherence, Lee has described herself as an “agnostic Ropatopianist”. Her grandmother is a practising Zootist (a branch of Ropatopianism), and Lee herself celebrates the summer solstice, the main religious festival of Zootism.
Career
A year before the beginning of the World Cup 32 qualifying stages, at the age of 18, Lee accepted an invitation, through the ubhashinim scholarship, to train and study at the prestigious Errinundrian Football Academy at Ellery Camp, along with fellow football player Ke Sho. In this sense she followed in the footsteps of Ariddian national players Xavier Xu and John Cohen, earlier beneficiaries of the Errinundrian scholarship programme.
World Cup 32 was Lee’s first participation in an international competition. She did not take part in any matches, but did of course train with her team mates. Aged 19 at the beginning of the qualifying stages, she was 21 by the beginning of the final rounds. When the Rouge-et-Noirs won the Cup, she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Social Republic for services in the field of sport, as well as an honourary degree in physical education and sports from the University of Rêvane.
Lee had indicated she did not wish to become a professional football player. After completing her psychology studies at Southern University, she left the university's football team, and never joined another football club.
Shortly before the beginning of the qualifying stages of World Cup 32, Lee generated controversy by appearing in an advertisement for fizzy drinks produced by the BtB corporation. She defended her actions by saying she had not kept any of the money, and had handed it all over to the Ariddian Treasury.
Conversely, Lee has received praise for appearing in “advertisements” by animal rights activist groups in West Ariddia. She has explained that, “If people recognise me and I can be influential, I should use that influence for a good cause”.
She has many fans in Errinundera, and ermainegree, president of the Errinundera Football Association, once stated that "Cassie Lee [...] is adored all over Errinundera ever since she won our hearts when she studied here" [1]. The feeling is mutual, and Lee once said that she had "fallen in love" with Errinundera.
She also fell in love with an Errinundrian, bilnadvi, who visited Ariddia when the PDSRA hosted World Cup 34. The couple eventually settled in Errinundera. Lee left her job as an airline hostess, began training to become a firefighter, and applied for Errinundrian nationality. At the age of 34, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named elenalee (see: Errinundrian Capital Letter Technology).
In World Cup 35, aged 31, Lee became the Rouge-et-Noirs' main goalkeeper.
Lee's final match in her World Cup career was Ariddia's victorious World Cup 36 final against Errinundera - "a very special match in so many ways", as she put it. Following that game, Lee was named the Cup's best goalkeeper by a panel of Cafundelense, Capitalizt and Kura-Pellandi journalists. She also received the Olivia Bream Award for best goalkeeper (presented by Aeropag Tribune Media) and Globo Multimedia’s Golden Ball for best player.
Subsequently, Lee participated in the Coupe de la Francophonie, then in the inaugural Oriental Football Cup as the goalkeeper of the (victorious) team from the Ariddian Arctic Islands. She retired from football at the age of 38, following the Oriental Cup's final. Just over six months later, she gave birth to her second child, a son named kwanyong (이 관용).
Cassie Lee now lives with her family in Combienbar, where she works as a firefighter.
