Their testimony is rare. Unknown to the public, and they are not doing any the worse for it, they are nevertheless essential to the balance of professional players. Cécile Tshibangu and Axelle Appiah have agreed to bend their rules on the eve of the final of the Coupe de France, this Saturday. The first is the mother of Canaris midfielder Samuel Moutoussamy. The second shares the life of Dennis Appiah for eight years. Both will be in the bays of the Stade de France and entrust their “immense joy” and their “pride“to see the two players one step away from lifting FC Nantes’ first trophy in more than two decades.
The long wait between Monaco and the Stade de France
“Two months was a long time.“, breathes Axelle Appiah, a great sports fan. If the final has been on everyone’s lips since this “crazy party“At La Beaujoire against AS Monaco, it’s radio silence for the Appiahs.”We don’t talk about itsweeps this graduate in real estate. My father is thoroughly, we discuss it together. I also talk about it with my relatives but I don’t want to put pressure on Dennis, that’s why I don’t talk to him about it. I want him to be calm in his head because we know him, he’s someone with a brain that runs at 1,000 an hour, even when he sleeps. I don’t want to bother him with this.”
This Coupe de France, it lives in him personally and, we, we are preparing by crossing our fingers.
Everyone has their own way of approaching the event. In the entourage of Samuel Moutoussamy, “the more it advances, the more we talk about it“, confides his mother, Cécile Tshibangu. Seven years after seeing disappointment on her son’s face, in the final of the Gambardella, this legal director in a large structure finally wants to see the eldest of her children exult, by lifting the 105th Coupe de France in History. “It’s a very short term goal, he prepares mentally, physicallyshe develops. It’s huge, one of the most popular events. This Coupe de France, it lives in him personally and, we, we are preparing by crossing our fingers.“
“It’s the first time I’ve seen him so happy”
For nothing in the world, the two families would miss this event. In the same way as the semi-final which caused a certain internal fight at Axelle Appiah, today employed in a large structure. “Monaco is my favorite club, the club that I have supported since I was very young.smiles the thirty-year-old, originally from the South, and still sitting in the same place at La Beaujoire. But for once, I was for Nantes and it was crazy. At the end of the match, he looked at me and I think it was the first time that I saw him so happy, really. He had the ‘smile’ from ear to ear. He was happy.”
I am very impatient, we are all very very impatient. I hope they will break everything.
“Emotionally it was intenseengages Cécile Tshibangu. Especially since there was his grandfather, his grandmother, it was magnificent. In addition, when he scored, he dedicated his goal to them. Without forgetting the party after on the field, it was an incredible event“Before a Saturday that everyone hopes will be even more memorable.”I’m excitedadmits the companion of Dennis Appiah. Now I can’t wait for him to play. We’ve never experienced that, except in Belgium where he won the championship but a cut, I’ve never experienced it. ” Same story in the entourage of Samuel Moutoussamy. “I’m very impatient, we’re all very very impatientcontinues the mother of the midfielder loaned last season to the Netherlands. I hope they will break everything.”
– Jerome Fouquet
“I would like him to play, I would be very happy and proud”
Gone green, this Friday morning in a luxurious resort in the Paris region, the players will be isolated from their loved ones until the meeting. Among the Moutoussamy, we are used to distance. “We talk almost every dayreveals the mother of the Congolese international. Text messages, audio messages, young people love it (laughs). We’re not intrusive, but he knows that if he needs us, it’s no problem” A few hours to wait before crossing the gates of the mythical enclosure of Saint-Denis. “It’s stressful because we want to succeed“, murmurs Axelle Appiah.
Already admiring the course of the Yellows, “it’s deserved and it’s justice after a very complicated season“, assures Cécile Tshibangu, the two women now live awaiting the announcement of the starting eleven, this Saturday. “I would like him to play but that, we don’t knowlaughs the one who shares the life of Dennis Appiah and watches the newspapers daily to find out what is written about his companion. But if that happens, I will be so happy and proud of him.” “We are 100% Samuel“, completes the mother who never would have imagined living such an event when he left the family nest at 13, to go to Clairefontaine. “The surprise is all the more beautiful,” she enthuses.