Anthony Vanden Borre

Anderlecht

Vanden Borre was trained at Anderlecht throughout his entire youth career, at the same time as his friend Vincent Kompany. He made his debut in the regular competition when he was 16 years and 187 days old. At that time, only one other player, Paul Van Himst, was younger when he debuted. A month on, Vanden Borre signed a contract with Anderlecht until 2007. In 2005, he drew attention to himself in a Champions League game against Chelsea, when he had the best attempt on goal for Anderlecht as they lost 1–0 to the English champions, striking Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech's post around midway through the game. He finally scored his first official goal at home against K.S.V. Roeselare in a 5–1 win when he opened the scoring on 21 September 2005. While both Kompany and Vanden Borre were considered huge football talents, Vanden Borre was considered to be an even greater star-in-the-making than Kompany. Anderlecht-icon Paul Van Himst called Vanden Borre "the biggest talent he has ever seen in his career". He was praised for his technical ability, passing and vision. However, while Kompany managed to maintain a high level of play match after match, Vanden Borre's Anderlecht career was marked by irregularity, lack of concentration and injuries. After several minor incidents, including a stint which featured him shaving the initials of his name 'AVB' into his hair, he received a 'bad boy'-label from both the press and his coaches. While at Anderlecht, Vanden Borre…

Holding Belgian and Democratic Republic of Congo citizenship, Vanden Borre played his first international match, opting for Belgium at age sixteen, having come on for Eric Deflandre as a substitute in a late minutes, as Belgium lose 3–2 against Turkey on 28 April 2004. One year later, on 4 June 2005, Vanden Borre made his first start, in a 0–0 draw against Serbia and Montenegro. Vanden Borre has since represented the national team by playing at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and the 2008 Summer Olympics. On 13 May 2014, Vanden Borre was named in Belgium's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club

As of match played 4 November 2016

International

Scores and results lists Belgium's goal tally first.

Born in Likasi, Zaire, Vanden Borre moved to Belgium at early age. He is the son of a Belgian Flemish father and a Congolese mother.