South Africa‘s Lars Veldwijk admitted that Sparta Rotterdam deserved their promotion to the Dutch Eredivisie after showing their fighting spirit and resilience.
Hendrikus Fraser’s side bounced back from 2-1 loss from the first leg to defeat De Graafschap 2-0 at the Stadion De Vijverberg on Tuesday to secure the final promotion ticket to the Dutch top-flight with a 3-2 aggregate win.
Veldwijk previously led Excelsior to the Eredivisie in the 2013-14 season and is now reveling in his second success with the Castle Lords.
“We fought for it all year round. People had written us off, but we knew this was going to happen,” Veldwijk said, per Voetbal Zone.
“Everyone can say what they want, but I have been promoted twice.
“A lot is always said. If things are going badly, I will be the first person to talk about. Now things are going well and I am fortunately rewarded for that, but it is not always easy.
“I was not as comfortable in the game as in the previous game. The compliments for De Graafschap: they really matched their game to me. We have won and we have been promoted.”
The South Africa international had an impressive campaign with Sparta Rotterdam, scoring 24 goals in 41 games across all competitions.
Veldwijk has been named in Bafana Bafana’s provisional squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
He will be hoping to replicate his form for Stuart Baxter’s side when they take on Morocco, Ivory Coast and Namibia in the Group D of the showpiece.
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