He will not be at Heysel on Monday. In question, family reasons which keep him in Amsterdam. He did not drag after the gala meeting in honor of his former teammate Olivier Deschacht.
Match in which he gave the assist on the winning goal. “I still know how to give crosses but physically it’s more difficult. I haven’t been on the pitch for a long time. I’m not fit but I’ve always been thin. Fortunately, I didn’t have to give myself to bottom, but to have fun. The most important thing is not now but what we did before.”
You never announced it clearly but are you officially retired?
“Yes, I’ve already stopped for almost two years. I didn’t want to play anymore. It was a good time.”
Do you intend to stay in the world of football?
“I think well but I haven’t decided in which role yet. I keep an open mind.”
A coaching job tempts you?
“I don’t know yet if I would like this job because it is very different from that of a player. Player, you think of yourself. As a coach, you have to manage other people. If you lose, you also take all the responsibility. I’m enjoying life a bit while waiting to choose what I’ll do.”
You enjoy on vacation, especially with Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech…
“It was by chance. I saw that Romelu was passing through and we met. (Sherjill MacDonald, former RSCA player, intervenes: ‘Lukaku can thank you, you gave him good balls when he had still his dreadlocks’). It was great to see him and also to travel after the Covid and the bans.”
You will not be at the stadium but will follow the Belgian Cup final. Who will you support?
“I don’t have a preference for one of the two teams. I still have a lot of ties to the two clubs I played for. May the best win, as they say.”
In 2008, you were one of the keys to Anderlecht’s victory against La Gantoise…
“I’ve always loved this kind of match. Winning them creates memories that you keep in mind and that stay. These highlights make your career. It was all the more special that I was facing La Gantoise. But you had to a winner. It was them or us.”
And you scored with a header, which was surprising!
“What’s crazy is that I didn’t score much with a header in my career but I managed to do so in the Belgian Cup final and also in the Russian Cup.”