© BELGIAN
No, it wasn’t Ritchie De Laet’s afternoon on Sunday. The defender returned to the team against Beerschot after a week in the infirmary, but was taken off again after half an hour. Furious and with screeching tires, he left the Tawny Owl before the final whistle was blown. A short account of a not-so-great afternoon for the former captain of the Great Old.
Full battle, fighting for every morsel of ground and winning is all that matters. A city derby is the type of match Ritchie De Laet lives for, no, was born for. Be sure that this Antwerp-Beerschot, especially in its own Bosuil, was marked with a thick red dot in his agenda. However, things didn’t look good last week, when he had to miss the match against Club Brugge after a kick in training. But ‘Mister RAFC’ kicked off. Lucky for him. Lucky for the fans, who adore him.
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And if Ritchie starts and Faris Haroun doesn’t play, De Laet wears the captain’s armband. Only… not Sunday. Our men on the spot looked surprised when they saw the match sheet. The © this time stood for Nainggolan’s name and not for De Laet’s. But the left back didn’t let it get to his heart and went ahead in the fight. In his first game with Shankland, he immediately showed the Scot what it was all about.
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And so it went on for a while. After one of the many duels he was pulling legs, but at the following corner he pulled forward again to head. No injury, you would think, but Brian took Priske De Laet to the side. Much to the delight of the visiting fans, much to the chagrin of Ritchie. He made a noise, didn’t give his coach a look and marched into the players’ tunnel. Then leave the stadium. Through a back gate of ‘his’ Tawny Owl. During the rest and with screeching tires. Painful. His Instagram account has since disappeared as well. Perhaps it’s no use in the many questions and reactions… Priske did indicate that it is an injury, but De Laet himself does not show that. Otherwise you won’t step aside with so much fuss. Under normal circumstances, a derby victory would cause a big party at the De Laet house. That ended a little differently on Sunday, March 6.
Wondering if he will show up at the club at the next appointment. Undoubtedly to be continued…
