Jan Vertonghen

Ajax

After spending time at VK Tielrode and Germinal Beerschot, Vertonghen moved to the Netherlands and signed a contract with the youth academy of Eredivisie side AFC Ajax. He began as a midfielder but then became a regular at centre-back for Ajax. During his time in the reserves, he became known for an incident in a 2006 KNVB Cup game against Cambuur Leeuwarden, his first home game at the Amsterdam Arena, where he scored a goal to put Ajax 3–0 up. He had attempted a back pass to the Cambuur goalkeeper while a teammate was receiving treatment but instead the ball went into the goal. Since it was unintentional, Ajax allowed Cambuur to score a goal in return. On 23 August 2006, Vertonghen made his first team debut in the Champions League third qualifying round against Copenhagen. He made his first start and Eredivisie debut in a 6–0 win over Willem II at the Amsterdam Arena and would play another two matches for the first half of the season.

Loan to RKC

After the winter break of the 2006–07 season, he was sent on loan to struggling RKC Waalwijk for the remainder of the season. At RKC, he would play 12 matches in which he scored three times, but he was unable to help the team avoid relegation to the Eerste Divisie. One of his goals with RKC Waalwijk was against his parent club, Ajax, in a 2–2 draw, which eventually let Ajax finish second in the league on goal difference with PSV.

Breakthrough at Ajax

Vertonghen returned to Ajax for the…

Vertonghen represented Belgium at under-21 level in beginning in 2006 and played in the 2007 UEFA Under-21 Championship. On 2 June 2007, he made his senior debut for the national team in a 2–1 home loss against Portugal in UEFA Euro 2008 qualification. At the end of the game he was fouled by substitute striker Hugo Almeida, who was sent off. Vertonghen was also selected for the 2008 Olympics and played in every match as the Belgians unexpectedly took fourth place. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying, he began to establish himself as a regular for Belgium, initially at centre-back as former Ajax teammate Thomas Vermaelen's partner. He scored the opening goal, also his first ever international goal, in an August 2009 friendly against the Czech Republic that ended in a 3–1 loss. On 7 September 2009, in a World Cup qualifying away match against Spain, he injured his toe and had to be stretchered off and substituted in the 29th minute of a 5–0 loss. He often played at left-back as Vermaelen and Vincent Kompany were the preferred pairing in central defence. He was back in the starting eleven for the friendly against Hungary, a 3–0 win, and the 1–0 loss to Croatia the following March. On 13 May 2014, Vertonghen was named in Belgium's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In the team's opening match against Algeria, the African side was awarded a penalty after Vertonghen pulled down Sofiane Feghouli and received a yellow card. Feghouli scored for Algeria from the penalty spot, but…

Club

International

The friendlies against Romania on 14 November 2012 and Luxembourg on 26 May 2014 are not officially recognised FIFA matches due to an excessive number of substitutions when only six were allowed. Belgium score listed first, score column indicates score after each Vertonghen goal.

Vertonghen was born in Sint-Niklaas, East Flanders, Belgium, to Ria Mattheeuws and Paul Vertonghen. He has two brothers, Ward and Lode; both have played football.