remarkable moment in match leads to painful dismissal

Westerlo has immediately dismissed trainer Rik De Mil, the club announced on Tuesday. The reason is last weekend's salon draw against KRC Genk. Both teams drew 1-1, meaning Genk qualified for the championship pool.

It was a strange sight last Sunday. With a few minutes to go at Westerlo – Genk, all players on the field decided that it had been nice. Suddenly there was no more effort to achieve victory.

Genk knew in advance that a point was enough to qualify for the championship pool. The team of coach Wouter Vrancken found itself with ten men twenty minutes before the end, but quickly managed to correct the 1-0 that followed.

The 1-1 draw was enough for sixth place in the rankings, which made Westerlo and Genk decide to pass the ball around at the back in the closing minutes. Hein Vanhaezebrouck, who missed out on the championship pool with KAA Gent due to the salon draw, did not know what he saw.

“I wouldn't be able to do that as a coach. I have been involved in football for a long time, but I have never done anything like this. If you play with one more man and are sure that you will not be relegated, I would not allow my players to do that. .”

“I also think it's a shame for the home crowd. I didn't expect to see this again in Belgium. We've seen it before, with Germany – Austria (World Cup 1982, ed.), but I didn't expect this “You carry something like that on your CV as a trainer, and future clubs will also see that.”

De Mil's response

De Mil understands that it was a strange situation. “But players are talking to each other on the field and then this happens. Maybe not the ideal end to a match, but that doesn't reflect the high intensity. I think we should forget those last minutes.”

The club management thought differently about the latter, as they decided on Tuesday to immediately release De Mil. “We cannot accept that our values ​​and standards are being questioned,” the press release said.

Belgian media write that the bomb has exploded in Belgium and that the Turkish owners are furious. “They watched with horror what was happening on the field and felt their honor was insulted,” said Sporza.

“In the stands, owner Oktay Ercan and vice-chairman Hassan Cetinkaya already made their displeasure with the scene clear.” Westerlo thanks De Mil for his performance and his survival and wishes him every success in the future.

More news





More sports news