Belgium were forced to play for 73 minutes with 10 men following Vermaelen's sending off for hauling down Robert Acquafresca but still succeeded in reaching the semi-finals thanks to a 3-2 victory.

Vermaelen, already certain to miss that game, could find himself handed a two-match suspension - which would see Ajax ask the 22-year-old to return from Beijing.

"When he gets a ban for two games, he will not play another game in China," interim director Henri van der Aart told De Telegraaf. "And then we would like to see him back at Ajax as soon as possible.

"We will speak with Thomas about that."