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Newborn baby named after Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens

10:00 19/06/2014

Red Devils supporters Evelien Jonckheere and Pieter Tijtgat named their newborn son Titus Marouane Dries Tijtgat in honour of the Belgian scorers at the Belgium-Algeria match in Brazil on Tuesday evening. The couple from Ghent had agreed in advance that they would give their child the first names of the Red Devils who scored a goal on the day it was born. Except that the little boy arrived earlier than planned.

The baby’s due date was June 26, the day of the Belgium-South Korea match; Evelien’s waters broke just as the couple were leaving their house to watch the Belgium-Algeria match. Titus Marouane Dries arrived during the match, reportedly in time to see his namesakes Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens score the winning goals for Belgium.

“If we had scored five goals, we would have given him five additional first names,” the parents said. “He’ll never really use his second names, but they are names that have a story and we will never forget it.”

Written by Deborah Forsyth