Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen says he’s ready to face his club teammate Harry Kane in the final group stage match between Belgium and England.
Both sides have already qualified for the last 16 – it’s just a matter of determining who tops the group and who finishes in second, with a game against either Japan, Colombia or Senegal to come next.
Much has been made about where it’d be best to finish, with Brazil a possible quarter-final opponent for both teams later down the line.
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England have looked impressive so far, but the truest test will come against Belgium, and Vertonghen is ready to face the man he knows so well at Spurs, and the man who is the current top goalscorer in Russia with five goals.
He said, as quoted by the club’s official website: “It might be me against Harry, that would be special. I play him quite often in training so it would be a good battle.”
Spurs have quite a large Belgian contingent, with Toby Alderweireld and Mousa Dembele also teammates of Kane, and they’ll all be hoping to get one over on the striker and England.
They will all know Kane’s game a lot better than the Tunisia and Panama players and in theory will provide a far sterner test for the marksman – that said, Kane knows their games as well.
Roberto Martinez is expected to make changes for the game, so it remains to be seen if Vertonghen is the man to be tasked with keeping Kane in check. Thomas Vermaelen could potentially come in for rotational purposes.
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