Sam Vines has called an end to his European adventure by agreeing to return to his boyhood club, Colorado Rapids, in the January transfer window.
The Colorado Springs native, who played 53 times times for his home-town team while scoring twice, signed for Royal Antwerp of the Belgian Pro League in August 2021 on a three-year contract with a one-year option.
The nine-times capped USMNT defender experienced both highs and lows during his two and a half years with Belgium’s oldest team. Shortly after signing, he suffered a collarbone fracture that required surgery and kept him out of action for two months. The defender also picked up another major injury, this time a broken tibia that kept him out of a likely selection for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
On the brighter side, he cemented a position in Antwerp’s starting XI and was part of the team that won both the Belgian Championship and the Belgian Cup in 2023, as well as the Belgian Supercup last summer.
Although again recovering from injury at the time, the team reported in September of last year that the American was mistakenly left off of the team’s roster for the Champions League group stage, after he was instrumental in helping the team qualify. Vines was, of course, upset over this so-called administrative error that kept him from going up against recognized continental teams like Shaktar Donesk, FC Porto and FC Barcelona.
Returning to the Rapids, he’ll link up with fellow former Yanks Abroad Zack Steffen and Djordje Mihailovic, who left Manchester City and AZ Alkmaar respectively during the current transfer window.
Vines has capped nine times for the US National Team, scoring once against Haiti in the 2021 Gold Cup.