James Maddison buzzing over 22-year-old Spurs player’s international display

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven made his Netherlands debut on Friday night.

The 22-year-old Spurs centre-back came off the bench 10 minutes from time in the Euro 2024 qualifier with France.

Van de Ven replaced Nathan Ake in Amsterdam and got a runout as his nation came close to clawing a point back.

After the game, the Tottenham summer signing took to Instagram with pictures of him from the game and a caption.

Van de Ven wrote: “A childhood dream. Very happy with my Oranje debut.

Spurs teammate Maddison wrote “proud of u bro” in the comments, while Virgil van Dijk posted an applause emoji.

Netherlands fighting uphill battle

Van de Ven didn’t have enough time to truly stamp his mark on the game, what with him coming on late and with the damage already done by the visitors.

Kylian Mbappe scored in the seventh and 53rd minutes. Though Quilindschy Hartman halved the deficit on 83 minutes, France held on for all three points.

This enabled them to secure their place at next summer’s competition with two games to spare.

The Netherlands are currently third, three points behind second-placed Greece with a game in hand. They next play Greece on Monday night.

Van de Ven’s first call-up to the senior squad was in September, but he didn’t get any game time.

He was previously a regular for the Netherlands’ Under-21 team, captaining the side on several occasions.

After the international break, Van de Ven will return to a Tottenham team flying high in the Premier League.

Spurs are next in action on Monday 23 October, with an 8pm kickoff against Fulham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.