Jan Paul van Hecke was initially not in the selection of the Dutch national team for this international period. Due to the injury of Micky van de Ven, the former player of SC Heerenveen was allowed to report and against Germany he even made his debut.
“I have to say: the nerves weren’t too bad, fortunately,” Van Hecke said after the match in front of the camera of Vandaag Inside. “When you get called up, you already think: ‘I can’t be making my debut, can I?’ and when it really happens today… This week I tried to look around me, I think there are a lot of good players that you can learn from.”
“I did. Today was a great experience, I hope there will be more to come,” the Zeelander continues, who knew that the necessary family was in the stands. “I don’t always know who is there, but definitely my mother, my brothers, my girlfriend, another niece and a nephew. There will have been more, but I can’t name them, sorry, haha. I think they are proud and maybe emotional, because it is of course a great feeling when you can play for the Dutch national team.”
“A dream for me, but certainly also for my family,” he continues. Van Hecke is said to have once told his father that the Dutch national team might be a possibility in 2024. “My father unfortunately passed away two years ago. But I am sure he would have been very proud. I am too, and for him too. Yes, it could hardly be better that it would also work out in 2024,” said the defender.
