Covid-19 adds to relegation stress
All White helps his Belgian club avoid the drop just a few weeks after positive test. Phillip Rollo reports.
All Whites star Liberato Cacace has overcome a Covid-19 scare to help Sint-Truiden avoid relegation from the Belgian Pro League in his first season in Europe.
Cacace tested positive for Covid-19 last month as the virus swept through the Sint-Truiden squad, affecting 13 players and staff, forcing their crucial game against bottom of the table Waasland-Beveren to be postponed until last week.
‘‘Two people initially tested positive and at that stage nothing could be done, I couldn’t prevent myself from getting it. That’s what I had discussions with the doctor about,’’ Cacace said.
‘‘Then another four or five tested positive and another group, and I was part of that third group that tested positive, also with the coach as well, and that was all over the news here in Belgium.’’
But the Wellington Phoenix product was fortunate that he did not experience any serious symptoms, aside from feeling more tired than usual after training sessions leading up to his positive test and losing his sense of smell.
‘‘Everyone reacted differently. People were struggling to get out of bed but I had no [serious] symptoms whatsoever. That was a frustrating time for me. We had tests pretty consistently throughout the two weeks and then we had to get the important test done by the league to clear us to come back.
‘‘There’s a rule here that if you have seven positive tests from the players you can request a postponement of the game and we had about nine or 10 players [test positive] so they granted our request and fortunately the time we tested positive almost clashed with the international break so not many games were being played, only that one game.’’
After returning a negative Covid-19 test, the 20-year-old defender was back in the starting XI for games against Mechelen and Beveren, and helped Sint-Truiden notch back-to-back wins to move seven points clear of relegation, ensuring their survival with two games remaining.
‘‘I’m glad that we weren’t really affected by it. We picked up six points ever since people have got infected and luckily I was the only one in the starting team to be affected. But the fact that I did get Covid was a real bummer. Being stuck in the apartment for two weeks, it wasn’t good. But I’m glad I got out on the other end.
‘‘That Beveren game was a very important game. We were talking about it all week. They had nothing to lose and would come out firing, and we conceded in the first five minutes. But luckily we dug deep, showed good fight and the red card helped us, and before we knew it was 11 against nine and we could see the game out.’’
Looking back on his first season in Europe, Cacace said it had been a ‘‘rollercoaster’’. The coach who signed him, former Melbourne Victory boss Kevin Muscat, was sacked after a poor start to the season, but Cacace remained a regular starter throughout as they battled for survival. He even caught the eye of Italian giants Juventus thanks to his strong individual form.
Avoiding relegation had made a noticeable difference to the squad.
‘‘One thing I’ve learned is you don’t want to be responsible for the team’s relegation . . . I feel for those teams below us that are still going through it but it’s good that I learned it now early in my career.
‘‘It was almost like a tourna
ment where every game was elimination.’’
However, it had been a good season.
‘‘We didn’t go down, I learned so much, I think I’ve come a long way as a footballer and I can keep improving but I look back on this season very fondly and I’m happy to be a part of this club and I’m happy to know we didn’t get relegated.’’