Romeo Vermant: "It's just crazy"
After scoring twice against AA Gent on Thursday, Romeo Vermant kept his place in the starting eleven and once again proved decisive. The young striker thanked his coach for the trust, and how! With another brace, he crowned himself the clear match-winner.
“Wow, even last month I never would’ve dreamed of starting,” Vermant said after the match. “And now to score twice and win – it’s just crazy. I can’t put it into words. For that second goal, I knew exactly when Christos was going to whip the ball in. I was just waiting for the right moment. It was a proper striker’s goal. We deservedly won today, but Anderlecht were in the game too. They presented themselves differently than earlier in the Play-Offs, so we had to find another way to beat them.”
Club have now secured their first tophy of the season and the first Belgian Cup in ten years. "A big party tonight? I'll definitely dance tonight, because I love to do that. But there will be no drinking, because next week we go again. Tonight I'm just going to dance my legs off", he laughed.
Hans Vanaken: "This is a great moment, both for me as for the club"
After having won six league titles with Club, Hans Vanaken could now lift the Belgian Cup with Club for the first time. "This is a great moment, both for me as for the club. For the fans it's a bonus that we won the final against Anderlecht."
"We started the game well, dominant and holding the ball in our own ranks. We created a number of chances, but towards the end of the first half and also in the second half Anderlecht restored the balance. We won today, but it was definitely not a perfect match. Winning silverware is always great and something that should be celebrated. I think we're going to have a wonderful time tonight."
Anderlecht appealed twice for a spot kick, once after a ball hit Vanaken on the hand. "I did touch the ball with my hand, but there was no intent and I my hand was pretty close to my body. It wouldn't have made sence to point to the spot for that."
Nicky Hayen: "Very proud of my players"
After the title last season, Nicky Hayen now won his second price with Blauw-Zwart. "It's a wonderful feeling", the coach said after the game. "We new this was going to be a proper cup tie. It was very intense, not very academic. I'm very proud of my players. It's a fantastic group to work with, always executing our plan as good as they can. We work very hard every day to maitain our lead on the other teams. That's why we need to keep doing what we do best. Today that didn't always pan out, otherwise we could have created more clear-cut chances."
Thanks to this cup win, Club is still in the running to win the first double since 1996. But first, there's this victory to cherish. 'Controlling how the players will celebrate? I don't think that's possible. And to be completely fair, it's not in our hands anymore whether we win the title or not so that's why we need to enjoy this cup win tonight. We're going to try our hardest to win our remaining three games, but today the focus is on this cup tie. I'm going to let my players enjoy themselves and this moment. There aren't a lot of moments in a season where you can truly celebrate something. Sunday's another match, so today we can party a little bit. From Wednesday onwards we focus on Genk."