Bad news for Spurs and Belgium fans, as Jan Vertonghen has picked up an ankle injury during training which rules him out of tomorrow’s crucial quarter final clash in Lille.
If unconfirmed reports from Belgium are to be believed, the defender may be facing a four-month spell on the sidelines, which means Tottenham Hotspur would go into next season without the formidable centre-back partnership that made them such a solid defensive unit for the majority of the last campaign.
Vertonghen, who has been used as a left-back in Belgium’s previous Euro 2016 games, had been expected to line up next to Tottenham teammate Toby Alderweireld in their familiar central roles for Wales, who beat them 1-0 in the qualifying campaign. Thomas Vermaelen is suspended so it would have been the obvious option.
But with both players now absent, coach Marc Wilmots may have to bring in 21-year-old Jason Denayer and Romelu Lukaku’s younger brother Jordan to help contain the threat of Gareth Bale.
At right back we’ll probably see Thomas Meunier, the 24-year-old with just eight international caps to his name. There’s no doubt that Wales will have their work cut out if they want to stop Belgium’s in-form attack, especially after Eden Hazard’s outstanding performance in the 4-0 demolition of Hungary. But if Chris Coleman’s side can exploit the inexperienced Red Devils defence they’ll have a great chance of progressing to the semi finals, and then the Welsh fans can really start dreaming.
