UK Title: Hannes Van der Bruggen Aces Oral Exam on Little Sleep: “I’ll Wear These Eye Bags With Pride”

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Hannes Van der Bruggen qualified for the Champions’ play-offs with Cercle on Sunday, then collapsed heavily with the whole gang and was only in bed at half past three. Two hours later, however, he was up and ready to take the train from Erpe-Mere to Brussels and take an ethics and deontology exam. With success because, just like with Cercle, he also succeeded. And like a true flandrien, Van der Bruggen also went cycling afterwards.

2024 will be a year of celebrations for Cercle Brugge. The association will soon celebrate its 125th anniversary and, as if it were written in the stars, they could now qualify for Play-off 1, the Champions’ play-offs, for the first time in history. And who knows what else awaits, because Miron Muslic gave Cercle a completely new identity. The Bosnian Austrian cannot be tempered and seems to push this Cercle to unprecedented heights. On Sunday there was even talk of forcing European football. And that wouldn’t surprise anyone because they are strong men at green-black. With Hannes Van der Bruggen in the lead. The midfielder will turn 31 on April 1 – and that is no joke – but is experiencing his second youth at Cercle and received a new contract last month.

If a ranking of the most sensible and eloquent footballers from the Jupiler Pro League were to be drawn up, Van der Bruggen would certainly score high. The East Flemish is already busy with life after football and wants to become an optician just like his father. And on Monday morning at half past eight he had an ethics and deontology exam. So it couldn’t have been worse. At the mini-isolation in Blankenberge he had been browsing through his course and on Monday morning he neatly presented himself at school in Brussels.

“Due to a communication error, I was too early, so I actually could have stayed a little longer,” Van der Bruggen grinned.

“But this also gave me a little more time to repeat a few things and also watch some videos from Sunday evening.”

Half past four in bed

And on Sunday night of course because the qualification was celebrated at Cercle.

“First we stayed in the stadium for a while, but then we went to a Lounge Bar in the city center with the whole gang, staff and players,” says Van der Bruggen. “Everyone went crazy, but I kept it pretty quiet myself. In the locker room I drank a few beers and some cava, but that exam was still haunting my mind. Luckily my girlfriend was BOB and I think I was in bed at our house by half past four. Our son Fons was sleeping soundly, thanks to my brother-in-law who played babysitter until three o’clock. However, I couldn’t get much more than three hours of sleep because I had to catch my train to Brussels.”

Three days off

The exam was a direct hit, just like Cercle’s match against RWDM.

“The last time was at the end of January and we were in a busy period at Cercle. I was able to limit the damage, but it was still not enough and second place. So that will be August, but luckily everything went well now. Ethics and deontology also involve some philosophy and that suits me well. Moreover, it was also oral. The teacher is not much into football, but when it was over and had gone well, I told him that I had had a very short night. I was wondering where those bags under your eyes came from,” he laughed. “I’ll take care of those bags, they will disappear soon. Fortunately, Miron let go of the emotion after the match and gave us three days off. So I can rest a bit in the coming days. Although, I think I’ll get on my racing bike later and go for another ride. Especially now that I have some time and I can still do it.

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