Roberto De Zerbi will be licking his lips as Jean Paul van Hecke breaks new Netherlands ground

New Tottenham Hotspur signing Jean Paul van Hecke put in a star performance as Netherlands beat Tunisia 3-1 at the World Cup.

The Oranje clinched top spot in Group F, with Van Hecke scoring the third goal for Ronald Koeman's men at Kansas City Stadium.

Van Hecke will now be preparing for the round-of-32 clash against Morocco, who made the semi-finals four years ago, on Monday.

Spurs completed a £52million deal to sign Van Hecke from Brighton earlier this month, reuniting him with his former Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi.

On a personal level, Van Hecke will hope to delay linking up with his team-mates for as long as possible to help Netherlands progress at the World Cup.

But one thing is for sure, De Zerbi will be licking his lips at several aspects of Van Hecke's performance against Tunisia.

Tottenham ace Van Hecke sets new Netherlands record

Van Hecke's flicked second-half header from Tijjani Reijnders saw him celebrate a first goal for his country.

But there was so much more for Van Hecke, De Zerbi, and Tottenham fans to enjoy about his performance.

He attempted 133 passes throughout the match, which is the highest any player has attempted so far at the tournament.

Of those passes, 125 were completed, which represents a record for a Netherlands player at the World Cup.

His 39 passes into the final third were also the most any player has made at this World Cup, as Van Hecke sought to get Netherlands going from centre-back.

In total, he had 145 touches, had seven ball recoveries (the most in the game), won five duels, made the joint-most clearances with four, and completed two tackles.

What will De Zerbi love most about Van Hecke performance?

It was a complete performance from Van Hecke, who was influential in Netherlands' convincing victory.

Analysing the above stats, what will please De Zerbi most is how proactive he was on the ball, and the way he attempted to instigate moves from the back.

De Zerbi teams are noted for their high-intensity, high-octane football, and more importantly they enjoy playing out from the back.

Van Hecke will be crucial for helping Tottenham build from the back, and playing through the lines to break teams down.

His defensive stats were excellent, but Zerbi will be thrilled at how comfortable and forward thinking he was on the ball.

If he can replicate that sort of performance in a Tottenham shirt, then fans will take to him very quickly.