Vertonghen: ‘Hopefully it won't take long’

INJURIES

Jan Vertonghen opened a new sports ground in Maasmechelen with his Foundation today. Sporza was there and asked the Anderlecht defender how his injury is going. ‘It's going in the right direction,' he told Sporza. ‘Mentally it is sometimes difficult, because I feel like being on the pitch a lot.'

‘My physical condition is going well,' the defender began. ‘I am working very hard every day to get back. It is indeed taking longer than everyone expected, me too, but it is going in the right direction.'

When does Vertonghen hope to play again? ‘In the beginning, I always set goals, but that led to some disappointments. So I got rid of goal-setting. Now I make small steps every day. I can say it is going in the right direction. I hope it doesn't take too long anymore."

‘It's frustrating to sit in the stands. Yesterday I was sitting there too. You then feel very much like playing and being on the pitch with your teammates. I still really want to be a footballer. That does make it difficult mentally sometimes. I'm still going to do everything I can to play as much as possible and to help Anderlecht where I can. But then there has to be a minimum of physical readiness and I'm working very hard on that now.'

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