First club from the 2nd departmental division to reach the 8th round in the history of the competition, RC Salouël-Saleux came out with their heads held high of the Coupe de France (3-0) against Wasquehal (N3) despite five divisions apart on November 28 in an unforgettable match in front of nearly 3000 spectators at Unicorn Stadium.
Donovan Durieux: “It’s always in the head”
“It’s always in my head” confess goalkeeper Donovan Durieux (29 years old), hero of the qualifications on penalties against Lambres-lez-Douai and the Portuguese of Roubaix, superior opponents of three or four divisions, in previous rounds. “Even if we were eliminated, my most beautiful memory will remain this match against Wasquehal at the Unicorn, when I go there with my wife I can’t help but tell myself that I played on it!“explains this father, ambulance driver and volunteer firefighter, who passed through the US Roye-Noyon.It’s something you can only experience perhaps once in your life… In any case, people still talk to me about it quite regularly today!”
Antoine Mücke: “The French Cup is over!”
An emotion such as decompression seemed inevitable for amateur players of this level. What was not easy to manage for the young team coach Antoine Mücke. “The recovery was very delicate, we are not going to lie to each other, I had a lot of absentees from training. I don’t know why because I put them on vacation for three weeks, which is fine! As of January 3, I had established a recovery program with a lot of friendly matches and unfortunately we had to cancel at least half of them due to a lack of players. Is this relaxation normal? Yes and no because the Coupe de France is over! If we want to go up to D1, which I hope because we have the level for it, the players have to invest even more! Even though I know they are working on the side there are no other solutions.”
– D.Touchart
Corentin Hutin: “We will come back stronger”
Hat perched on the head and cigarette in hand at the end of a friendly match easily won this week against Villers-Bretonneux, striker Corentin Hutinprovidential scorer against Lambres-lez-Douai and the Portuguese Roubaix, wants to believe – even if the decompression was tough for him too – that RC Salouël will come out stronger. “We weren’t expecting such a great run so it was complicated and the elimination against Wasquehal pissed us off (sic) but we’re going to come back stronger! This strengthened the solidarity and cohesion of the team, we did not all know each other and we became a group of friends which will allow us to progress very strongly this year.“
Dos Santos: ‘Not going up would ruin our season!’
Except that the Salouasiens, 5th in the ranking, have lost feathers in the league. “The Cup was the icing on the cake, the priority objective of the club is the rise in Division 1” remember President Antonio Dos Santos. “We have eleven matches left, we have to win them all to achieve this. Otherwise, given the level of our team and what we have been able to prove in the Cup, it would ruin our season!” Salouël will therefore have to beat Flesselles Sunday in game late to come back five points behind leader Olympique Amiens. “In the medium term, my goal is to raise the club to the regional level to make it a hub south of Amiens within three years.“announces Antonio Dos Santos.
A budget doubled
let’s remember that RC Salouel will almost double its budget with 22,500 euros of federal allocations paid to the teams having played the 8th round. Enough to offer players a bonus, new equipment, “also reward educators and people from the football school who supervise young people in the shadows“promises Antonio Dos Santos who will probably add some grilled meats to the club’s next traditional barbecues.