Vertonghen, Jan

Jan Vertöngen was born on April 24, 1987 in the town of Sint-Niklaas , in the family of Paula and Ria Vertongenov. Jan also had two brothers, the elder Wardes and the younger Lode. ^[2] All three Vertongen brothers began to play football in the children's team in the village of Tilrode, near Sint-Niklaas. Then, at the age of 12, Yang got into the youth team of the Antwerp Germinal Beerskhot ^[2] . It was from there that the 15-year-old Vertongen in 2003 moved to Amsterdam Ajax ^[2] . Since Jan did not finish school, Vertongen had to go to school in the Amsterdam Beylmer district ^[2] . First, Jan passed the Ajax junior teams B-1 and A-1, and in 2005 he was transferred to the youth team of Amsterdam ^[2] .

July 1, 2005 Vertongen signed his first professional contract, the contract with Ajax was for three years. As part of the Ajax youth team in the 2005/06 season, Jan participated in the Netherlands Cup . Thus, in the second round match against Cambuur , which took place on September 20, 2005, Vertongen scored a rather curious goal. It all started with the fact that Ajax player Derk Burrigter was injured and remained on the field. Cambuer players, following the rules of “ fair play, ” knocked the ball into touch. After providing medical aid to the injured, Vertongen had to return the ball to Camburia, but Jan overdid and sent the ball from 50 meters in a high arc straight into the far nine of the Gate of Cambuur. Thus, Ajax led the match 3-0, but immediately after the goal, Ajax youth team coach John van den Brom asked his team to miss the goal, and Cambuer striker Theis Hauving just rolled the ball into the goal of Ajax. In the end, “Ajax” still beat “Cambuur” with a score of 3: 1, Nurdin Bukhari scored one goal for the Amsterdamians, and the “hero of the match” Vertongen was doubled.

In the next round, the Ajax junior team was to meet with the AGOVV team from Apeldoorn . The match took place on October 25 at the “ Amsterdam Arena ”, but Vertongen was not announced for the match as a player of the base, but remained on the bench. Only in the second half, when the score was 0-0, in the 69th minute Yang appeared on the substitution instead of Tom Kalkhuis . The main time of the match ended in a draw 0-0, and the teams had to identify the winner in an additional two halves of 15 minutes. Only in the 116th minute Olaf Lindenberg opened the scoring in the match, in the end, Ajax was able to win, playing at the same time in the numerical majority, since the 83rd minute was removed player guests.

A month later, on December 20, the 1/16 finals match of the Netherlands Cup took place, the Vertongena team met with the club of the First Division Helmond Sport . “Ajax” already in the 10th minute remained in the minority, defender Jasper Kok was removed from the field. At the end of the match, the players of Helmond managed to open an account, in the 39th minute, Orlando Smekes distinguished himself . At the very beginning of the second half, Rydell Poupon was able to level the score, but after 12 minutes, Helmond stepped forward again. But in the 64th minute Vertongen was sent off, receiving a second yellow card. Playing as a two-time player, Ajax lost 2-1 and dropped out of the rest of the Netherlands Cup.

Ajax

2006/07 Season

In the summer of 2006, Jan was transferred by the head coach Henk ten Kate to the main team. Jan’s official debut took place on 23 August 2006 in the Champions League match of the 2006/07 season against the Danish Copenhagen . Vertongen came on as a substitute in the 61st minute, replacing defender Hedwigs Maduro . The match ended with a guest victory of “Copenhagen” with a score of 0: 2, and despite the fact that in the first match Ajax won away 1: 2 ^[3] , the Danes reached the group stage of the Champions League due to the difference between goals scored and goals conceded ^{[4 ]} . Having flown out of the Champions League, Ajax got a ticket to the 2006/07 UEFA Cup . Vertöngen made his debut in the UEFA Cup on November 2 in the group stage match against Austrian Austria . Only in the 78th minute, when the score was 3-0 in favor of the Amsterdamians, was Jan replacing Wesley Sneijder ^[5] . November 30, Jan played his second match in the UEFA Cup, in the match against the Spanish " Espanyol " his team lost at home with the score 0: 2 ^[6] .

On December 3, 2006, Vertöngen made his debut in Eredivizi in a home game against Willem II , Jan stepped in the match from the first minutes and served as a central midfielder. The match ended in a major victory for the Amsterdamians with a score of 6: 0 ^[7] . On January 3, 2007, Jan extended his contract with Ajax until June 30, 2011, the previous agreement expired in the summer of 2008 ^[8] .

Rentals at Valwijk

January 31, 2007, Jan was loaned to the club " Valwijk " ^[9] . In addition to Vertongena, Ajax also leased to different teams and other young players, namely Donovan Sleyngard , Michael Kron-Delhi , Rydell Poupon and Derk Burrigter.

On February 3, Jan made his debut for “Valwijk” in the away match against NAK, his team lost with the score 2: 1. The match also became a debut for the other two newcomers of the club, namely for Anthony Obodaya and Tariq Sektyui ^[10] .

Seven days later, on February 10th, Vertongen scored his debut goal for the club in the championship match against Heracles . Jan distinguished himself in the 35th minute, hitting the gate from 16 meters, and Martein Röser ^[11] became the goal assistant. As a result, “Valveyk” won at home 2-0, but this victory was for the club only the third in the championship season 2006/07 .

On April 8, 2007, Valwake met with Amsterdam Ajax, and Jan was able to take part in the match. Already in the 9th minute, Ajax player Gabri opened the scoring in the match, but after a minute Valwijk could play the goal, Vertongen scored with a header. Eight minutes after the goal, Jan had a great moment to distinguish himself again, but his kick went past the gate. At the 21st minute, after the mistake of the goalkeeper “Valwijk” Erwin Lemmens , Wesley Sneijder again led his team forward, Assistant Assistant was Klas-Jan Hyuntelar . In the second half, Vertöngen scored a great free-kick, but Ajax goalkeeper Martin Stekelenburg dealt a blow. Twenty minutes before the end of the match striker Luvamo García equalized the score in the match, “Valveyk” was able to keep a draw by the end of the match ^[12] .

For four months, Jan spent 12 matches for the club in the championship and scored 3 goals ^[13] , he also played 6 matches in the playoff championship for registration in the top division. Following the play-off matches, Valwijk dropped out in the first division of the Netherlands.

Tottenham Hotspot

On July 12, 2012, the Tottenham London site announced the signing of a contract with Vertongen ^{[14] [15]} . On September 29, 2012, Jan, in the sixth round of the Championship of England , scored his first goal for the “spurs” against Manchester United ^[16] . He also scored his goal in Inter Milan in the first match of the Europa League 1/8 final. He made his first double on March 10 against Liverpool , in this match the Spurs lost 3: 2. And in March he was elected the best player of the month in the Premier League.

In mid-May 2007, Jan received a call to the main team of Belgium , along with him from the youth team was called Faris Haroun . In June, the Belgian national team was to meet with the Portuguese national team as part of the qualifying tournament for the 2008 European Championship . In the match against the Portuguese, which took place on June 2, 2007 in Brussels , Ian made his debut, but the Belgians lost to Portugal at home with a score of 1: 2.

As part of the Belgian Olympic team, Jan ranked fourth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics , and the Belgians lost the third place in the match for the Brazilian national team 3-0.

Club career

(revised as of May 13, 2018)

Career in the national team

Team Achievements

  Ajax

• Champion of the Netherlands ( 2 ): 2010/11 , 2011/12
• Vice Champion of the Netherlands ( 1 ): 2009/10
• Netherlands Cup Winner ( 1 ): 2009/10

  Tottenham Hotspur

• Vice champion of England (1) : 2016/17
• Bronze medalist of the Championship of England (1) : 2015/16
• Champions League Finalist (1) : 2018/19

Personal achievements

• Talent of the year in Ajax: 2007/08 ^[19]
• Player of the Year in Ajax: 2011/12 ^[20]
• Footballer of the year in the Netherlands ( 1 ): 2012

On Jan. 23, 2007, Jan's father died, Paul Vertonghen died at the age of 58 from a brain tumor. Paul was seriously ill for more than 14 years, when Jan was six years old, his father suffered a first epileptic seizure.

Jan met his present girlfriend, Sophie de Vries, who was born in Amsterdam, in high school in Beilmere. She studied at the school of arts and became a theater director.

• Profile on tottenhamhotspur.com (English)
• Profile on belgianfootball.be site (nid.)