De Laet: “We want more”
“We worked very hard towards this final”, said a delighted Ritchie De Laet. “It was a final with two great clubs from the province of Antwerp. This is the best moment of my career.”
“Mechelen came here with a clear plan, but in the end the best team won.”
“The season is certainly not over yet. Now we can go to the play-offs with a lot of confidence. This cup is nice and takes some pressure off, but we want more.”
“Experiencing a good evening with the fans at the Bosuil later, but tomorrow our thoughts will have to focus on Union again.”
Walsh: “Could barely create target danger”
Sandy Walsh was the first Malinois to speak to the press and could not help but admit that his team was a few buddies short against Antwerp, which did not need its best form to bring the cup to Antwerp.
“A loss is always disappointing, no matter what level the opponent is at,” said Walsh. “Too bad for our supporters, but we weren’t good enough today. The passion and the experience were there, but two crucial moments decide the match, too bad.”
KV Mechelen didn’t do too bad defensively, but the fact that Antwerp goalkeeper Butez didn’t have to grab a single ball says enough.
“Our game plan worked and we played pretty well, but in the last zone things always went wrong. This way we could hardly create a target danger. In the end we tried to push because you want to give everything for this club and its fans. After the 0-2, however, it was over and out.”
Schoofs: “A big disappointment”
“The distance to the Antwerp goal was so great.” Captain Rob Schoofs expressed the powerlessness of Mechelen very aptly. Organizationally, KVM did better than the 5-0 disgrace at the Bosuil, but the offensive impotence was very great.
“The cup has been our goal in recent months,” Schoofs responded. “We have been looking forward to it for a long time. So this is a very big disappointment. Antwerp was stronger, although we had it under control before the break. One phase we were not sharp enough and immediately it was a goal.”
“After that we were too low and it was difficult for us to get out ourselves. It certainly wasn’t our best game. In the absence of a real deep striker, we had to make do with our occasional strikers and try something with running midfielders. However, we lacked presence at the front, someone who can keep up with the ball.”
The season is over for yellow-red. Unfortunately without apotheosis. “Now is the time to process this and take a breather. And then build towards next season.”
