The title
”It will be the big nightsmiles Samuel Gueulette. We worked hard to get to this moment. We can't wait to be able to have a good match and finish the job and achieve this goal. We want to enjoy the evening for everyone, the group, the club and also the whole city.”
To win this title this Saturday evening, it will be necessary to achieve a fifth victory in a row. “To achieve this, we will respect our playing principles and our football, says the 23-year-old Rwandan international (1 cap). We must not overplay and respect the instructions as we have been doing since the start of the season. The ideal scenario will be to start very strong and quickly lock down the target, a bit like against Lokeren. But in the big matches this season, we always knew how to keep a cool head.”
Ranked among the favorites for the climb given the few candidates posted at the start of the season, the RAAL managed this 2nd season in N1 perfectly. But for the title, Lokeren also had a great season putting the ambitions of crowns on the shelf for a few weeks in Saint-Julien.
”There were several turning points in the seasonremembers the midfielder. Already the victory against Liège in the Belgian Cup. Last season, it was a club that put us in difficulty. Then, the victory against Olympic at home or the success in Dessel where we scored at the end of the match. Against Lokeren, we sent a strong message to everyone.”
The opponent
Concretely, with ten points in advance (twelve points left to play), the RAAL must win so as not to have to look at the result of Lokeren which travels to Virton at the same time. Another result would force us to take a look at Gaume. We will still have to get rid of the Ghent youth who were beaten on Wednesday by Thes.
At the end of the contract, my intention is to stay at RAAL.
“It’s a team with a lot of quality and young people who have ambition. Faced with these individuals, we will have to remain focused, warns the player in 29 matches this season.
Gueulette knows Ghent well. Not for having already played them three times since he was at the RAAL. But for having evolved there for six seasons among young people. After his debut at Berchem and a stint at Brussels, Samuel branched off to Ghent where he came close to D1. In reserves, he rubbed shoulders with Samoise, Dompé, David and Nicolas Raskin.
”But at the time, the reserve team was not like now. I remember that sometimes I was the only non-D1 player alongside them. It was impressive but you learnhe explains. Unfortunately, Manu Ferrera followed Marc Wilmots and everything changed for me with the new coach. However, with Peter Verbeke as sports director, things were going well but he also left.”
At the dawn of his majority, Sam Gueulette did not have the opportunity to take the plunge towards the pros. “Today with these U23 teams, the bridges are perhaps simpler. This is a good thing for Belgian football. I would have liked to have had this opportunity”he laughs.
His career
His departure from Ghent recorded, he then landed in Tubize in D1 amateurs for a season before joining Roeselare for only a few months given the decline that was looming there. A few months later, he found employment at the RAAL.
”In Tubize, I discovered an adult locker room. There too, I learned a lot. Roeselare, there were financial worrieswhispers the player. Initially, I was reluctant to join the RAAL (Editor's note: in D2ACFF at the time) but under the advice of Matoka, a friend who played there, and after learning about the project, I jumped at the chance. And I don't regret it. I always believed in my qualities and I worked hard to be at this level.”
At the end of his contract, he still does not know what the future holds for him. “It’s my agent who managessmiles this science-eco student at Saint-Louis in Brussels who will validate his baccalaureate in a few weeks. My intention is to stay but I don’t have everything under control.”
- Core: Vanhamel, Valkenaers, Maisonneuve, Calant, Corneillie, Faye, Liongola, Gobitaka, Maës, Gueulette, Cianci, Ito, Bongiovanni, Pau, Vancamp, Kiankaulua, Soumaré, Kanouté.
- Only Lahssaini (calf) is unavailable.
