This derby – as only the French Football Cup knows how to reserve them to us – is above all a great gift for Saint-Apo, a club founded in 1971, which is celebrating its 50 years of existence. Even if it is an abyss which separates the two formations since the DFCO evolves in Ligue 2 and Saint-Apo in National 3, the equivalent of the 5th division.
To prevent the players from “scattering” and so that everyone can fully enjoy this historic moment, this Friday evening the club has planned a greening at the Kyriad-Mirande hotel. Enough to get into a bubble and relieve the pressure a little before going to Stade Gaston-Gérard.
– Thomas Nougaillon
But on the sporting side, there is no question of disrupting the habits of the players, explains Pierre Paulin, 43, the coach of Saint-Apollinaire, whose players train 3 to 4 times a week. “We just added a training session compared to usual. We tried to stay on simple things, on what we know how to do. Still trying to make the players understand that this game will be different of a championship match “ unrolls with humility Pierre Paulin.
Even if Pierre Paulin will do everything to win this confrontation against DFCO, a club of which ASC Saint-Apollinaire is a partner. This week in training he and his staff tried “to seek out the players on the emotions” because “There are a few small steps that we are going to put in place” he admits without saying more.
– Thomas Nougaillon
Gora Gueye is 32 years old, in his life he is an educator at the “Déclic” association which helps young people in difficulty, on the lawn he is an attacker. He will wear the captain’s armband for this match. Described by his coach as “an experienced player, a duty player, a true warrior” despite his 1M88 he is like a kid when he talks about Saturday’s meeting against Dijon.
“It’s magic” explains the club striker
“Playing matches like that for us, for our families, for the club is magic. That’s why we play football, it’s to play matches like that. With a few guys from the team who have passed their thirties, we will reassure everyone and try to give a little confidence “ he said with stars in his eyes.
The Saint-Apo club, considered as the “home team”, has already sold 1,500 tickets for this match plus 250 seats in boxes. ASC Saint-Apo hopes to attract 3,000 supporters to the stadium. Even if it will be complicated during this long weekend of November 11.
ASC Saint-Apollinaire / DFCO, kick off 6 p.m. this Saturday, to be experienced live and in full on France Bleu Bourgogne (98.3 or 103.7)