WAG OF THE WEEK : Sylvie Meis Van Der Vaart

 Part of our mandate on this blog is to let y'all know about the delectable WAGS (Wives And Girlfriends) of your favorite Athletes... Sportunes will be a breeding ground for WAGS as these beautiful women have become part and parcel of an athlete's life.

Many vault from being previously unknown to becoming household names as we have seen in Andy Roddick and  Brooklyn Decker. While some probably made the athletes household names just like what Kim did to Kris. Some 'equally' shine bright like diamonds alongside their HABS (Husbands and Boyfriends) like Mr n Mrs Beckham.

The lifestyle of a professional athlete is stunning already so when these guys get to go home to some of the worlds most beautiful models, forgive us if we don't shed a tear for them. 

Our WAG of the week goes to;

Sylvie Meis Van der Vaart

Sylvie is a legal WAG of Dutch star Rafael Van der vaart. Aged 18, she decided that she wanted to be a model and was cast for various shoots by casting agencies. After becoming interested in television, she gained popularity through assignments at FoxKids and music station TMF. She hosts several events at TMF, such as presenting the annual TMF-awards, and conducting interviews with international artists such as Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue. In addition, she features in video clips and the Dutch TV-series Costa. She also introduced the Pure by Sylviejewellery line to the Dutch market. Thereafter, she hosted the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year award ceremony.

After being elected the Netherlands' Sexiest Female in 2003, she started a relationship with then-AFC Ajax footballer Rafael van der Vaart. Due in part to the fame from their individual careers, they soon become the Netherlands' most famous "football couple". Some of the media have described the couple as the "new Beckhams" but both of them denied the claims saying that they prefer to just live a normal life heir fame grew after their marriage on 10 June 2005 and live coverage of the wedding on SBS6, a Dutch television channel, with the broadcast gaining high ratings in the Netherlands; Sylvie took Rafael's last name, van der Vaart. On 28 may 2006, their son Damien Rafael was born.

Meis and her husband moved to Germany when he left Ajax to play for Bundesliga football club Hamburger SV. After her husband's 2008 transfer to Real Madrid, the van der Vaarts moved to Spain.

Roughly a year later, she announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and had undergone surgery in May 2009 and started post-up chemotherapy, she has since been declared cancer free. In the summer of 2009, Real Madrid wanted to sell Rafael van der Vaart, but the player decided to stay in Madrid because Sylvie was undergoing cancer treatments there.  

A year later, upon his move to England, Rafael stated "She had a very serious illness and it is true that she had to be treated at the Clinica Quiron. Last season, they wanted me to leave but I couldn't leave for that reason. Now she is well and the only thing that happened was that Madrid wanted to sell and I wanted to get back to enjoying playing football."

On New Year's Eve 2012, Van der Vaart and his wife separated after she became the victim of domestic abuse. The Hamburger SV footballer branded himself an 'idiot' after he allegedly struck his wife at a private party. Van der Vaart told German newspaper, Bild: ‘It was very foolish of me. I’m an idiot. I’m very sorry. It should never have happened.’

Despite them splitting, its been reported that both couples are still in good terms, which is to an extent evident in her name - Meis Van Der Vaart. We at Sportunes can only hope they get back together, atleast for the sake of their gorgeous son Damien.