He showed up almost an hour after his team validated the last ticket for the semi-finals of the Coupe de France, this Thursday evening, struggling to overcome Sporting Club de Bastia. And faced with the half-dozen journalists present in the spans of a Beaujoire which had just regained its calm, Antoine Kombouaré did not hide his emotion of “see our club, FC Nantes“at this level, one year to the day after his signature on the banks of the Erdre to replace the ephemeral Raymond Domenech. Interview.
“We want to dream”
How do you feel after qualifying for the semi-finals?
Huge pride, really, I’m proud to see our club, FC Nantes, be in the semi-finals. I believe that, beyond satisfaction, it is above all pride that there is. I say to myself: “damn”, after everything we went through last season, it’s incredible to think that a year later, almost to the day, we find ourselves in the semi-finals in addition to being tenth in Ligue 1. I especially want to congratulate the players who are huge, exceptional, magnificent. I also want to thank the supporters because there is no great team without fabulous supporters who support us. We saw it tonight. I’m really moved to see the communion that there is today between the public and the players, it’s to experience these emotions that we do this fucking job.”
How do you see the future in the Coupe de France?
Now that we’re in the last four, we all want one thing, it’s to go to the Stade de France. Yesterday (Wednesday, editor’s note), I followed the draw, it gave us the opportunity to receive. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but it’s always better to play a very good Monaco team, among the best in the French championship. It gives us lots of ideas. We want to dream but at the same time we have to continue on Sunday with the reception of Reims, in Ligue 1. We wallowed last Sunday against Strasbourg, we must catch up and do everything to recover the three points lost in the first leg.
Victories call for victories and we are hungry.
What was the atmosphere like in the Nantes locker room after qualifying?
It remained very calm and it is good like that. Really, there was no singing. Often we hear the players shouting: we are in the half or we are in the final, that was not the case. We have our feet on the ground. We are very happy with what we are doing. We are proud of it but, quickly, there is a new championship match and points to be sought for maintenance. After that, we will have time to think about this semi-final against Monaco. In the meantime, we know that we will have to work hard, help the players to recover, treat those who need it to be ready, Sunday at 3 p.m. Against Reims, we have revenge to take compared to our first leg where we lost 3 to 1. We also have one compared to our last league match where we lost, being really very bad, in Strasbourg 1 -0.
– Loic Venance
Did you imagine living such an adventure after what you went through last season?
It is beyond my expectations. Today, what we are doing is really extraordinary for us who have been through hell and who had to go through roadblocks to maintain ourselves. Today, we find ourselves there, saying that we need to win three games to maintain ourselves while qualifying for the semi-finals. It’s beautiful, but at the same time, it’s only February. Three months ago and what will be very interesting is precisely to see what the ambitions of our players are. Are we able to go to the Stade de France? Are we able to acquire the points of maintenance as quickly as possible and to seek higher, at the level of the classification? At the moment, I cannot answer these questions. They will arrive on the field, during the next matches.
Is it more comfortable for you to work in this situation?
Yes, it’s better but the comfort is only present after the matches where we did what it takes to win. But I can tell you that, whatever the ranking, if we lose against Reims next Sunday, there will be anger, a lot of disappointment. If we are able to do this course, we must also be able to continue to drive the point home (sic). Victories call for victories and we are hungry.