Colin Coosemans in front of camera and emotional in the dressing room after coming on as a substitute at Anderlecht: “It was never the intention to become a caricature”

It had been since November 5, 2020 since Colin Coosemans last stood between the posts at the highest level. Then KAA Gent put him on the European list in extremis because on the one hand Roef was injured and on the other hand Bolat was not registered. On Wednesday evening, he made his debut for Anderlecht’s main squad after just over a thousand days. It should not be surprising that his emotions ran wild after the victory against Cercle Brugge. “I am very happy with my substitution,” Coosemans initially responded matter-of-factly in the flash interview immediately after the match. “Not that much was going through my mind or anything. I just expected a little more nerves, but there weren’t really any. It’s unbelievable, because it’s been quite a long time since I played. It is also the first time for Anderlecht, a debut that I had already imagined a few times. I think the emotions will soon be able to… These have been difficult moments at times…”

In a video that Anderlecht shared on social media, Coosemans gave a tearful speech in front of the dressing room.

And there were still tears in his eyes in the mixed zone. “It is very nice to make my debut,” said Coosemens. “It was my first match for Anderlecht and I have been here for a long time. These are tears of happiness. It’s nice to show that I’m not just a mood maker who is good for the group. It was never the plan to become a caricature.”

Coosemans has been favored at Kikkenborg in recent weeks, although the Danish goalkeeper was brought in as the second goalkeeper this winter. Riemer explains: “Kikkenborg comes from a small team in the Danish league. He still has to adapt. Currently Coosemans is simply our second best goalkeeper. This summer the battle between the two will start again.”

“Never gave up”

The fact that Coosemans has already won the battle for the time being is mainly due to himself. Despite his status as third goalkeeper, the ex-keeper of Bruges and Mechelen, among others, continued to work hard. “ Today is the result of the last years. I always kept working and never gave up,” says Coosemans.

The last goalkeeper who started the season as the third goalkeeper and eventually ended up in goal was Frank Boeckx and then Anderlecht became champions. “Yes, that is also a nice story. But we are not thinking about that now,” says Coosemans. “We are not working on the stand at the moment. One of the trainer’s common threads is: the next match is always the most important, we follow that. It’s still too long to think about that position. A lot can still happen. It will only be decided in the penultimate or last match.”

Mats Rits: “Would we start dreaming of a trophy now? No”

“It was a very mature match from us,” said Mats Rits afterwards. “When you play against Cercle, you know that the first 20 to 30 minutes are full steam ahead. They chat about it and try to play very directly and aggressively. However, we were ready to take on the duels and win the second balls. We then tried to find space behind their defense and punished them. Then we played a controlled second half. Are we already starting to dream of a trophy? No. We’re halfway through the play-offs. Okay, we are in the lead, but we have seen over the past five matchdays what can happen in the play-offs. That’s the great thing about football. We are now mainly looking at next weekend and will try to get points again.”