Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 23:19• Noel Korteweg • Last update: 23:27

Vincent Janssen can once again prove himself at the the Dutch squad in the coming international match. The 28-year-old striker also received an invitation to the Dutch national team last June, but had just planned his wedding in Mexico. Janssen reported on his own initiative one day after the big party in Zeist and made a good impression with an assist in the international match against Wales (3-2 win).

“A lot has happened since then,” the striker realizes. Janssen exchanged the Mexican Monterrey for Royal Antwerp last summer and is currently in excellent shape. In the past five league games in Belgium, he has scored six goals and an assist. “Last time there was a lot to say about me: there were many different opinions. I haven’t heard that anymore, I see that as something positive,” says Janssen in conversation with the General Newspaper.

Janssen somewhat disappeared from the radar in the Netherlands after his departure to Mexico. On behalf of Monterrey, he scored 24 times in 94 games and took several trophies. “No, I didn’t surprise myself, I know what I can do. In Mexico I didn’t have my most productive years, but I played a lot and won everything you could win.” The striker did not have to hesitate for long when Royal Antwerp came forward. “When I heard about that project, I started thinking. Of course it plays a role that I am now closer to home, friends and family are with me within 1.5 hours, but that was not the deciding factor.”

The overall picture was important and so far his choice for the Belgians has worked out well, as Mark van Bommel’s club has won all nine competition matches so far. “It’s going well. I hope that I can now take that form to the Dutch.” The ex-striker of AZ and Feyenoord, among others, experiences competition from Wout Weghorst at the Dutch, but also from, for example, the currently injured Luuk de Jong. Janssen is even keeping Ajax player Brian Brobbey completely out of the selection for the time being. “I certainly don’t count myself rich yet, it will be a while before the World Cup starts. I have to keep performing until the last game before the World Cup.”