The 18th day of the Belgian football championship ended on a high note for KAS Eupen, with Beninese defender Olivier Verdon playing a pivotal role in their 1-0 victory over Ostend on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n
Verdon, a key figure in the five-man defensive setup orchestrated by coach Be\u00f1at San Jos\u00e9, once again showcased his reliability and composure at the back. Eupen had been struggling to find form, failing to secure a win since their triumph over Genk on November 2. After the match, Verdon reflected on the hard-fought victory: \u201cIt feels good to get three points. It was a complicated match because Ostend sat quite deep. We had to create space and find the gaps. We scored a goal and kept a clean sheet, what more could you ask for? The victory is well deserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
This win marked a much-needed return to form for Eupen, ending a run of four consecutive defeats\u2014three in the league and one in the Belgian Cup. Verdon emphasized the importance of maintaining focus for the remainder of the season: \u201cIt\u2019s tough on morale to lose several times in a row, but we never doubted ourselves. The team\u2019s mentality is good, and this victory will allow us to bounce back stronger. Staying up? No, until it\u2019s mathematically secured, it\u2019s not over. Let\u2019s first get a result in Antwerp next weekend. A big match, the kind I like, with a lot of pressure, where we\u2019ll suffer and fight on the pitch. I can\u2019t wait to be at the Bosuil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since joining Eupen at the end of the summer transfer window, Verdon has been a transformative presence in the backline. The 24-year-old Beninese international traded his Alav\u00e9s jersey for Eupen\u2019s colors and immediately helped stabilize a defense that had previously been highly vulnerable. Before his arrival, the German-speaking club had managed just 3 points out of a possible 21, conceding 16 goals\u2014an average of 2.3 goals per game. Verdon\u2019s introduction into the starting lineup brought immediate improvements: Eupen now averages 1.3 points per game while conceding just 1.2 goals per match.<\/p>\n
In short, Olivier Verdon has not only fortified Eupen\u2019s defense but also restored hope and confidence to a team that was beginning the season in peril. His steady performances have been central to the club regaining its footing, proving that the Beninese defender is an indispensable asset in KAS Eupen\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 18th day of the Belgian football championship ended on a high note for KAS Eupen, with Beninese…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[19,498,501,499,500],"class_list":["post-439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-antwerp","tag-antwerp","tag-caf-champions-league","tag-countries","tag-football","tag-ghana"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}