Two days before the important game against the French star team, Vormer was told that he would not start. According to Club Brugge coach Philippe Clement, the Dutchman reacted very emotionally to this.
“He told me that he was having a really hard time with it and that he wondered if he should remain captain of the team. I told him that he should definitely remain our captain. There are also other captains who do not play every game for their club, such as Marco Reus at Dortmund.”
Clement advised the four-time Orange international to sleep on it. The Dutchman finally decided a day later to keep his captain’s armband. “He quickly recovered and trained well,” said Clement.
From the bench, Vormer saw how his teammates achieved a fantastic result against the star ensemble including Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar. The Belgians dragged a point out of the fire: 1-1. Clement kept Vormer on the bench for the entire match. “Of course he was disappointed that he couldn’t fill in, but monuments are not everything.”
