If selected against Cyprus this evening, our long-serving centre-back will overtake former striker Jan Ceulemans’ tally of 96 caps for the Red Devils, a record that has stood for 26 years.
Born in Sint-Niklaas, Jan had just come to the end of a loan spell at RKC Waalwijk, who were relegated from the Eredivisie, when, as a 20-year-old, he was thrown into Belgium’s starting line-up for his first senior appearance for his country in a European Championship qualifier against Portugal in Brussels in June, 2007.
— BelgianRedDevils (@BelRedDevils) October 7, 2017
He’s remained a regular figure in the squad ever since while playing for Ajax and Spurs at club level and is now poised to make history when Belgium, who have already qualified for next summer’s World Cup finals in Russia, host Cyprus.