Nicolas Raskin has his own fan club amongst the Rangers support and now it appears like he’s got one with the Belgium national team.
The former Standard Liege midfielder, 24, has had to bide his time for a call-up to the Belgium national team squad but after an impressive season at Rangers, Rudi Garcia has been convinced.
Raskin made his debut for Belgium by coming off the bench late-on against Ukraine but could do little to prevent a 3-1 defeat in Spain.
But Nicolas Raskin more than made up for that in the return leg, playing an instrumental role as Belgium overturned the deficit with an impressive 3-0 win in Genk.
Nicolas Raskin named ‘Man of the Match’ for Belgium
Raskin was instrumental in the middle of the pitch throughout, setting the tone and tempo of the Belgium performance despite picking up an early yellow card.
It was Raskin’s composure which acted as the foundation of the victory, with second half goals from Maxim de Cuyper and Romelu Lukaku (x2) helping retain Belgium’s UEFA Nations League A status.
But Raskin’s performance, on the midfielder’s full debut for Belgium, was not lost on the Red Devils supporters come full time with the Rangers midfielder awarded the Man of the Match by one leading fan media outlet.
There was even a round of applause for Nicolas Raskin as he left the pitch, Belgium fans responding ‘Raskin’ every time the announcer said ‘Nicolas’.
The stats back up Raskin’s performance too.
Nico made the most amount of passes in the match (75) with an accuracy of 91%.
The midfielder had 91 touches, whilst 18 of those passes went forward into the final third.
Defensively, Raskin won four out of five ground duels and made seven defensive actions in what was a commanding performance from the Ibrox midfielder.
It’s fair to say that Raskin never looked out of place in a midfield that included Manchester City legend Kevin de Bruyne and Club Brugge star Hans Vanaken.
Belgium fans have new hero in Rangers midfielder
Belgian football fans have also been showing their support for Nicolas Raskin on social media too.
The Red Devils faithful have been showering the Rangers midfielder with praise for his role in the comeback victory on what was his first ever start for the nation.
One supporter lavished the Rangers midfielder with praise, branding Nico the ‘little prince’ and claiming Raskin is ‘a true warrior, a unique player who is sorely missed by our team’.
Another added that Raskin ‘really plays like a boss’ in the number six position, coincidentally the role once occupied by interim Rangers manager Barry Ferguson.
One account hailed the midfielder as ‘rock solid’, whilst another branded the win over Ukraine as ‘Raskin’s match’.
The reaction is pretty much summed up by this fan asking if there is ‘already a Nicolas Raskin fan club?’
