Football star reveals heartbreaking reason behind neck tattoo as she prepares to play in the Euros quarter-finals
German keeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who will be in goal when her squad faces France in the quarter finals of the competition on Saturday, has a series of symbols inked just under her right ear, and a tree and a compass on her arm.
Speaking to German newspaper Bild, the 34-year-old, who's engaged to England defender Jess Carter, after the pair fell in love while both playing for the Blues, revealed that one of the tattoos hides a cancer scar, while the other two are also linked to the illness that has threatened her career twice.
The shot-stopper, who plays her club football at Gotham FC in New York, was first diagnosed with the disease in 2017.
She revealed that she had thyroid cancer while playing for Birmingham City and told fans at the time she she would 'fight every day' to beat the disease.
In 2022, she was re-diagnosed with the same type of cancer after four years in remission.
Berger told Bild that she deliberately chose a neck tattoo because people would then talk about that rather than the marks left by her surgery.
She said: 'I had problems with the scars I had from the cancer surgery. They bothered me. I had them tattooed over so no one would see them. Now everyone asks me about the tattoo and not about the scars.'
Berger - who won three Women's Super League titles, two FA Cups and two League Cups with Chelsea - returned to action just over a month after being diagnosed with cancer.
The German national star now has other tattoos related to her two diagnoses.
She explained: 'I have a tree on my arm now, that's the newest thing. I got it done when I was ill for the second time.
'The roots of a tree are more important than the beauty around them. I got a compass with a folder tattooed when I was ill for the first time.'
The goalie is once again in remission and has regular check-ups every six months.
Germany are currently in the other side of the Euros draw but Berger and her fiancee could meet on the pitch if they can defeat France.
The couple were on opposing sides in the 2022 Euros final, where the Lionesses crushed Germany to win the title.
The two became friends while playing for Birmingham in 2016, with the now couple eventually sharing a flat together.
English defender Carter had only previously been in relationships with men and has said that, despite the pair sharing undeniable chemistry, she wasn't sure what was going on at first.
She told The Guardian previously: 'I had broken up with my boyfriend when I moved in, but as far as I knew I was straight.'
However, after a 'date' (which Carter initially thought was just as friends) the pair kissed while watching a movie at home, and Berger had well and truly convinced her Chelsea teammate that the spark was real.
And the tables have certainly turned since Carter had to be subtly coaxed into understanding her feelings for Berger. Now it's the English international who is loud and proud for the world to see.
'I think I was – and probably still am – more comfortable than Ann is with publicising our relationship, but that is just because Ann is a very private person whereas I am more of a "the whole world could know and I wouldn't really care" kind of person,' Carter said in 2021.
'Over time and because I will say whatever, she has kind of got used to it and goes with it. By seeing that it is normal and you can be whoever you want to be ... (it) shows younger people that it is okay to be you.'
Announcing their engagement on X, the couple posed alongside one another for a selfie, with the caption reading: '7 years down, forever to go'.
Reflecting on her her cancer battle with BBC Sport in 2023, Berger insisted the challenges she has faced has made her a stronger person.
'To be at a Euros [when] nobody knew then, the emotion of the Euros took the negative part away from my brain,' she recalled.
'It was a good year. I didn't let my illness come across and say "hey, you shouldn't have a good year because I'm back again".'
Berger also revealed she is keen to discuss her cancer diagnosis, despite it often being a taboo subject for many people.
She added: 'I actually quite like to talk about it. It's a topic nobody likes to talk about but in my position I think I can help people.
'I'm not sitting here saying everything was easy, because it's not, but whatever your main focus is - and mine was football - you can achieve everything you want to.
'That's why I think it's really important for me to be open. I did it, so why can't everyone else?'
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