Football
Toulouse and Vincent Chierro won the Coupe de France
Toulouse edged Nantes 5-1 at Stade de France on Saturday evening. After 30 minutes they were already 4-0 up. Football took precedence over politics: there were no major incidents to report.
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In the 69th minute of this triumphant final, Chier midfielder Vincent Chiero entered.
AFP
Cup in the capital: Toulouse, unleashed, crushed Nantes (5-1), caught in this dark end of the season, and won the 106th edition of the Coupe de France, in an unexpected finale and in the best scenario, far and away. Social tension.
As a symbol, the Canaries suffered their biggest defeat in the Coupe de France final against Saint-Étienne (5-0) in 1970.
From now on, Nantes, who are 16th in Ligue 1, fear a dreadful season with fears of relegation, a year after they knew the joy of being crowned in the Coupe de France.
Nantes were under pressure from the start
Raised in the stands and on the floor: In a very hot (78,000 spectators) Stade de France with smoke bombs, defos and banners, the Violets piled the pressure on Nantes, completely engulfed in defense in the first period.
They logically opened the scoring with a corner where Franco van den Boomen shot onto the head of Logan Costa, who rose above them all to easily deceive Alban Lafond (4th).
Percussive on the flank, Toulouse doubled the race minutes later, thanks to Logan Costa, still from the head (10th).
Fastest double in history
A successful race for Toulouse trainer Philippe Montanier. Saturday was established, and the Cape Verdean had yet to score. No player has scored a double century so quickly in a Coupe de France final.
Against a helpless Nantes crowd who had almost never put a foot on the ball in the first half except for one big chance (12th), Toulouse’s men continued their demonstration.
Thijs Dalinga stole the ball in front of the Nantes goalkeeper (23rd) after a good start by Gabriel Suazo. The Dutch striker put the Canaries back a little further after a strike from Fares Saibi (31st).
Besides, Opta’s stats bear it out: Toulouse are the first team since Lille against Bordeaux in 1955 to score at least four goals in the first period of a Coupe de France final.
The second period of this surprising poster between these two organizations in the second part of the table was much less happy.
66 years of waiting
After several attempts (53rd, 57th, 66th) and being pushed by the yellow public, the Nantes people reduced the score with a penalty (75th) converted by Ludovic Blas.
But (79th), Toulouse’s Zakaria Abuklal provided a layer with a fine shot under Lafont’s crossbar.
The 1957 Coupe de France was supported by around 22,000 fans at the Fusion, 66 years after the only title in the city’s history, achieved at a time when Toulouse was playing in red and white and particularly vibrant for rugby.
The title was the subject of a dispute between the “TFC” and the federation that has the trophy on its roster, and the federation named, US Toulouse in 1970.
Uncertainty over Europe
This win usually secures a ticket to the Europa League for the following season.
But if AC Milan, which has a partner like Toulouse (American investment fund RedBird), qualifies for the Champions League or C3, “Téfécé” could be plucked from Europe.
“And there they are, the Toulouseins,” sang the violets, “who don’t jump are not Toulouse,” some leaning on the spiked grids, after deploying a brilliant pioneer Defoe: “Let’s bring it back to the square. The capital.
Just before kick-off, Emmanuel Macron greeted the Nantes and Toulouse players on the corridor leading to the ground, at the exit from the locker room. Even the Marseillaise was played on the field, without a whistle.
AFP noted that throughout the early evening, supporters, sometimes accompanied by police, approached the Ile-de-France enclosure in a calm atmosphere with yellow or purple smoke.
According to a police source, 21 people were arrested for smoke bombs or pickpocketing, while “Parisian hooligans preferred to attack individuals”.
Some supporters met with representatives of local unions to hand out red cards and other whistles to them – banned from the stadium – so they could demonstrate their opposition to pension reform or their rejection of the president. Pregnant by tradition.
Earlier in the evening, during entry control, security personnel confiscated some red cards and whistles brought by supporters, an AFP journalist noted.
The union rally was approved by administrative justice at the last minute: Paris’s administrative court, seized in summary proceedings, on Saturday found wrongful that the head of the Paris police wanted to ban it.
But most of the spectators did not wave the red card in the 49th minute of the match, AFP journalists found that 49.3 were used to pass the pension reform. Toulouse, then 4-0 up, were ecstatic with their players, and between Nantes, who looked stunned at the turn of the match, only a few timid whistles could be heard, quickly drowned out by chants from the supporters.
The French president also did not hand over the trophy to the Toulouse winners from the grass, three years into the process and the Covid crisis.
The prefect of police, Laurent Nunez, decided that the winner’s trophy would be presented in the gallery, as it “prevents the invasion” of the lawn.
(AFP)
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