“Trust the Process.“Do you remember this term? A few years ago, it was fashionable in Anderlecht, in a team where Vincent Kompany launched the young people from Brussels into the deep end one by one. A bonus for youth, who has been slightly attenuated since then, but which took a new turn on Thursday evening during the Cup match won against Tubize-Braine (0-4).
Full member of the Sporting U23 team, Loving Lapage took advantage of an uneventful end to the match to step into the game and play his very first minutes with the Anderlecht team. At 19, and while some promise him a very bright future, he replaced Jan-Carlo Simic in the 71st minute.
Obviously, it was time for pride after the match, for this young kid who is none other than… the grandson of the legendary Paul Van Himst. We imagine, moreover, that the ex-Red Devil was in front of his TV to witness the baptism of fire of his grandson, who picked up a yellow card in the process.
“I have always played for Anderlecht” he explained, moved, on the Sporza microphone after the meeting. “Being able to play my first minutes with the A team is the best thing that could happen to me.
During the meeting, the young defender went through all the emotions, even fearing, at times, not to get into the game: “I’ve been waiting for this for so long. While I was warming up, I saw that the score remained frozen at 0-1, so I told myself that it wouldn’t be this time. For a coach, it’s a bit tense to start a central defender with that score.”
In the end, Kasper Dolberg came through to increase the score and allow young Lapage to make his debut. So, did he call his grandpa to debrief the meeting? “Not yet, the connection here in Tubize is very bad. But he probably watched the game. Anyway, I’ll call him soon” he smiled.
There is no doubt that his grandpa will be able to give him the right advice so that these few minutes in the A team do not go unnoticed.
