First Team

“I was incredibly happy”

Sebastiaan Bornauw remembers his first goal for VfL as if it were yesterday.

Der VfL-Wolfsburg-Spieler Sebastiaan Bornauw jubelt zusammen mit dem Team.

After watching the majority of the Wolves’ opening games of the season from the bench, Belgian centre-back Sebastiaan Bornauw has started to play a bigger role for Niko Kovac’s team in recent weeks and is highly likely to feature at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday evening (20:30 CET). In this interview, Bornauw shares his thoughts on the competition for places at VfL, reveals his musical side and reflects on his first goal for VfL.

Sebastiaan, Maxence Lacroix is suspended and Moritz Jenz is also unavailable in Gladbach. That should make Niko Kovac’s decision a little easier – he’s normally spoiled for choice in central defence.

Sebastiaan Bornauw: “Competition is good for business, as it were – it makes us all better players. Maxence, Moritz, Cedric and I need to show week after week who deserves to play. The competition is tough but we’re still very good friends off the pitch.”

You joined VfL ahead of the 2021/22 season. You had to wait a while for your first goal – do you remember it?

Sebastiaan: “Very well, actually. You always remember your first goal for a club. It was a header from a Maximilian Philipp corner – in Mönchengladbach of all places. I was incredibly happy.”

Anyone who follows you on Instagram will have seen you have a musical talent…

Sebastiaan: “That’s right. Well, I can play the piano a little (smiles).”

Do you have one at home?

Sebastiaan: “Yes, my wife can play a bit too, as a matter of fact. But we both spend far too little time on it. We use our karaoke machine a bit more regularly, particularly when friends from Belgium are visiting us.”

How’s your singing?

Sebastiaan: “Put it this way, there’s always at least one person who performs worse than I do (laughs).”