Under 18s Malherbe Caen Stadium are one step from the Stade de France. Young footballers from Caen have qualified for the semi-finals of the Coupe Gambardella, the equivalent of the Coupe de France for young people. They won on Sunday afternoon at Lyon-La Duchère two goals to one.
“I am very happy for the training and for the players who foughtexplains relieved and speechless their coach Nicolas Seube.
It hasn’t happened for twenty-one years. This highlights the club, the work of the trainers and the state of mind of these young boys who have asked a lot on a daily basis. I’m proud of it all because it’s a work of many years and many associate coaches.”
It was the Lyonnais who opened the scoring on a penalty by Norman Chafaa (24th). Norman Bassette equalized at half an hour also on penalty and it is 20 minutes from the end that Mohammad Hafid gave the advantage to the Caen U18s.
The weed-prone players coached by Nicolas Seube have been a little scare in the last seconds with a goal denied to the Lyonnais but the main thing is there: qualification for the semi-finals.
“At that age, managing emotions and being a killer when you have the opportunities… that’s what allowed the opponent to stay in the game. We conceded a goal already against the court of the game. We have the first situations without scoring. Momo (Haif) delivers us on an individual exploit and behind we have too much situation to kill the match that we do not score and suddenly we face what can happen, that is to say a free kick at the last minute that can score a goal. Luckily, the referee whistled.”
Stade Malherbe will therefore play in semi-final on April 10 against the young people of Stade Rennais. This time it will be at home. And why not at the Stade d’Ornano? Obviously, this is the intention of the chairman of the supervisory board, Pierre-Antoine Capton.