Anthony Vanden Borre

Anthony Henri Vanden Borre (born 24 October 1987) is a Belgian former footballer who played as a defender.

Vanden Borre previously played for clubs in Belgium, Italy, England and France.

He won 28 caps for the Belgium national team.

He is capable of playing as both a right back and a right winger.

Vanden Borre was trained at Anderlecht throughout his entire youth career, at the same time as his friend Vincent Kompany.

He made his debut in the regular competition when he was 16 years and 187 days old.

At that time, only one other player, Paul Van Himst, was younger when he debuted.

In 2005, he drew attention to himself in a Champions League game against Chelsea, when he had the best attempt on goal for Anderlecht as they lost 1–0 to the English champions, striking Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech's post around midway through the game.

He finally scored his first official goal at home against K.S.V. Roeselare in a 5–1 win when he opened the scoring on 21 September 2005.

While both Kompany and Vanden Borre were considered huge football talents, Vanden Borre was considered to be an even greater star-in-the-making than Kompany.

Anderlecht-icon Paul Van Himst called Vanden Borre "the biggest talent he has ever seen in his career".

He was praised for his technical ability, passing and vision.

However, while Kompany managed to maintain a high level of play match after match, Vanden Borre's Anderlecht career was marked by irregularity, lack of concentration and injuries.

After several minor incidents, including a stint which featured him shaving the initials of his name 'AVB' into his hair, he received a 'bad boy'-label from both the press and his coaches.

While at Anderlecht, Vanden Borre was linked a move away from the club like Hamburger SV, Ajax, Inter Milan, Real Betis, Tottenham Hotspur, Juventus and Lazio.

A month on, Vanden Borre signed a contract with Anderlecht until 2007.

Vanden Borre joined Fiorentina, completing his move on 1 June 2007, for €4 million and signing a four-year contract that will keep him until 2012.

The move was previously made on 8 March 2007, with an agreement, according to his agent.

He made his Serie A debut on 7 October against Juventus, coming on for Giampaolo Pazzini.

Having made two appearances, Vanden Borre said he was developing at the club, though he was not playing.

On 19 January 2008, Vanden Borre was on the move again.

This time, joining Serie a side Genoa in a co-ownership deal for €2.1 million, with Papa Waigo moving the opposite way also in co-ownership deal, also for €2.1 million.

After the move, Vanden Borre says joining Genoa is a great opportunity to play.

On 8 March 2008, Vanden Borre made his debut, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute, in a 2–0 loss against Juventus.

In an interview with Belgium Soccer, he stated he want to stay at Genoa, insisting he is happy there In June 2008, Genoa announced that the club had acquired the full rights of the player for €1.7 million, following eight appearances at the club.

In his first full season at Genoa, Vanden Borre made twenty-five appearances for the club, under manager Gian Piero Gasperini.

However, the next season, Vanden Borre was soon available on a transfer and has since fallen out of the first team.

On 13 August 2009, it was announced that Vanden Borre had joined Portsmouth on a season-long loan.

He made his debut for the club on 19 August 2009 against Birmingham.

He scored his first goal for Portsmouth in a 3–1 Football League Cup win over Carlisle United on 22 September 2009.

But eventually, he decided to extend his contract with Anderlecht until 2010, during the 2005–06 season.

On 6 February 2010, he scored an own-goal in a 5–0 loss against Manchester United.

Two months later, on 3 April 2010, Vanden Borre received two bookings in a 0–0 draw against Blackburn.

This sending off entered football folklore as the red card that was missed by Chris Kamara while reporting on the match for Soccer Saturday.

After the match, he accused referee Steve Bennett of costing him his dream of playing at Wembley as he had to serve a one-match suspension.

However, his time at Portsmouth was difficult, battling to hold down a regular place in the Portsmouth defence as the club was relegated to the Championship.

At the end of the season, new manager Steve Cotterill announced that Vanden Borre would not be returning to the club, having expected to extend his stay at Portsmouth, and he was subsequently linked with German side FC Köln.

After returning to Genoa from a loan spell at Portsmouth, Vanden Borre was heavily linked a move away in the transfer window, including a return to Pompey as part of Kevin-Prince Boateng's deal.

But, Vanden Borre announced he would move to Belgian side Genk in a temporary deal.

However, the move fell through, due to the interest from Hapoel Tel Aviv, despite he already signed a six-month contract with Genk, without a mutual agreement between the transfer fee.