The Girondins de Bordeaux enter the competition in the Coupe de France by facing the Twins of Mzouazia in the 32nd final this Sunday at 6:20 pm. This club from the island of Mayotte evolves in Regional 1, or five divisions below. The Mahorais players arrived in France for more than 10 days to prepare and are rather confident after their 3-1 victory against the Breton club Plancoët (R2), a month ago. Ditto for the players of Vladimir Petkovic who remain on a success in Troyes, last weekend.
Ile Rousse, Granville, Pau
The famous “trap match” looms for the Girondins de Bordeaux who have already been eliminated several times against clubs from lower divisions. The most striking remains that of January 2014 facing L’Île-Rousse (0-0, 4-3 tab). How to forget the one facing Granville (N2 at the time) by 2018 ? Bordeaux are used to making teams from lower divisions shine. “It’s the past, sweeps Jimmy Briand, attacking Navy and White. If we take each team in the championship, everyone had this story with a match that went less well.“Pau or the TFC are also in the youngest minds, but we could also cite Calais (2000) or Montceau-les-Mines (2007) for those who have memory.
Hierarchy is realized when there are so many differences. If we are serious, there will be no problem, for sure – Jimmy Briand, striker of the Girondins de Bordeaux
The native of the Parisian suburbs, who won the Coupe de France in 2012 with Olympique Lyonnais, recognizes this small fear of being ridiculous : “We necessarily talk about it with the players because there is a small chance that it will happen. But above all, we tell ourselves that we must be serious, applied and, logically, the hierarchy is realized when there are so many differences. If we are serious, there will be no problem, that’s for sure.“
Even if the Girondins skate in the league, Belhadje Cheick Ahamed, the assistant coach of the Mahorais, is well aware of the gap between the two clubs. “We come from an island where even the infrastructure is not at the top. We have fields that are not at all suitable, no changing rooms, so we can not compare.“Only the magic of the Coupe de France can bring these worlds together.