The nasty fall of Tom Beugelsdijk has had a considerable impact on the players of Sparta Rotterdam. Early in the game with Go Ahead Eagles (1-0 win) the defender was completely wrong after an aerial duel, had to be treated for minutes and left the field, as it turned out, with a concussion. Adil Auassar, Bart Vriends and Henk Fraser say that the incident hit hard, but at the same time the Sparta selection has already been able to fool around with Beugelsdijk.
“Under the circumstances, things are going well. It has been quite a blow, so some things will have to happen in terms of recovery and rest. We’re glad he was approachable, but it’s had quite an impact,” Fraser said in front of the camera ESPN† Bee RTV Rijnmond the Sparta trainer indicates that the moment Beugelsdijk was driven off the field, he was told that the shock was mainly due to the fact that the defender was ‘away for a while’. Beugelsdijk was taken to hospital for a check-up.
“A lot worse things can happen, so we were already somewhat happy in that regard. Then it’s a matter of waiting. I just got in touch with him via FaceTime. I said we won 2-1 against Ajax. So he was super happy,” laughs Fraser. Bart Vriends – who replaced Beugelsdijk – also tells the regional channel that a joke could already be made. “We can tell him anything now. We collectively sang a song for him in the dressing room, so he deserved it.”
“I saw him get ugly. I know that from myself: that can also work out,” Vriends continues. “He lay really still and then it is usually wrong. I couldn’t see very well, I was afraid he had swallowed his tongue. I believe this was not the case. He is in good hands at the hospital and he is doing fine. Before we started again, we made a short scrum and said we would do it for Tom today. A little tacky maybe, but every little bit helps. Then the match will start and we know the situation of Sparta at the moment, so your attention is immediately there.”
After a very unfortunate fall, Tom Beugelsdijk has to leave the field to loud applause. Good luck, Tom! †
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) March 12, 2022
“That touched me, yes”, admits Auassar, who scored the winning goal in the second half, about the incident with Beugelsdijk. “He wanted to head into a duel and was blocked while in the air. That’s not even a serious offense, but I looked at him and he was completely gone. Our thoughts are with Tom, these three points are definitely for him. I also told the boys before we started again: ‘We are going to win this match for Tom’.”
Auassar is asked whether it has not been difficult to get attention back to the game after Beugelsdijk had left the field. “You have no influence over it anymore. It sounds harsh, but we just have to do our job. Tom would do the same the other way around, in that respect we know that he is in good hands with our medical staff. That it affects me, the boys and the staff: absolutely,” said Auassar. “I think you could sense how important this win was.”