Stroeykens: "This is what we needed"

INTERVIEWS With two goals after his substitution Mario Stroeykens provided the turnaround yesterday afternoon at KV Mechelen. The 18-year-old match winner was allowed to tell his story to the press afterwards. "The relief after the match was great," he told them.


"This feels good. This is a relief and what we needed. You could see it too: the relief after the match was great."

For Stroeykens himself, the victory tasted extra sweet. "A few weeks ago I had set myself the goal of scoring my first goal. Today I suddenly scored two. That makes it even sweeter. It's hard for me to explain this feeling."

"The coach wants us to show up in penalty box"

On both goals, Stroeykens was well-placed to take advantage of the rebound after an attempt by Fabio Silva. "The coach insists on being present in the penalty box," Stroeykens said. "If you come on time and make the right effort, you can be in the right place. On both the first and second goal, that happened."

"I'm happy to be able to help the team. A goal, assist or action: it made little difference to us."

"At RSCA Futures to maintain match rhythm"

On Friday, Stroeyens played an hour with the RSCA Futures. "We are trained well enough to make these efforts. It was no problem for me to play half a game today as well," he said.

Unlike Anouar Ait El Hadj some time ago, his selection for the U23 did not feel like a punishment. "No, not at all. Often people see this as a step back, but it's not. You also have to maintain match rhythm. The staff chose to let me play there because I hadn't been in action with the A-team for a few weeks. It was a good choice by the coach."

"I can understand the supporters"

The Sporza reporter also asked for Stroeykens' opinion on the supporters' protest. "Whether I can understand that? Of course. They are fanatical supporters. When the club is not doing well, it is difficult for them. But in the second half we felt their support very much. They pulled us through with their support. We always need them."

How did Stroeykens experience the past few weeks? "Crisis is perhaps a big word, but 4 out of 18 is not enough for a club like Anderlecht. We realize that as players. The past few games the game was better than at the beginning of the season. Today we built on that. That we won today is the most important thing."