My uncle is a World Cup finalist, now I leave him in tears as he goes my own way

JAN PAUL VAN HECKE dreams of following in the footsteps of his World Cup finalist uncle.

Jan Poortvliet, the flesh and blood of the Brighton defender, played in the 1978 final when the Netherlands lost 3-1 in extra time to hosts Argentina.

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Poortvliet, who was Southampton boss between 2008 and 2009, was in tears when he saw Van Hecke shine at Brighton, who beat Ajax 2-0 in the Europa League match in Amsterdam in November.

Van Hecke, 23, said: “My uncle is enjoying my journey, he played at the highest level. He said he is proud and he watches me every game.

“When I played against Ajax, winning away made him emotional, he was in tears.”

Holland boss Ronald Koeman was in the Ajax crowd watching the uncapped Van Hecke ahead of this summer's European Championship.

Van Hecke has made a rapid rise: from his loan to Blackburn in 2020 to his key role in Brighton that sealed Europa League football last season.

Now he is licking his lips at the prospect of a place at the European Championships in Germany to make his uncle proud.

However, the competition for places at the European Championship will be fierce, with Van Hecke looking to prove that he can hold his own with players such as Virgil van Dijk, Matthijs de Ligt, Nathan Aké, Micky van de Ven and Sven Botman.

Van Hecke, capped eight times at Under-21 level, added: “My uncle tells me that taking part in a big tournament is one of the most fun things.

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“I hope I can prove to Koeman that I should be there.

“My uncle told me all the stories about the World Cup, he said they were robbed against Argentina!”