Born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, Antonin Bobichon grew up in Saint-Paulet-de-Caisson and was trained in Nîmes Olympique. A pure Gard product which continues to evolve in Ligue 1! After having experienced with the Crocodiles the rise in the elite and his first professional emotions, the midfielder left for Angers last season. He gave us an interview before facing his former club this Sunday (3 p.m.). Without bitterness, “Bobich ‘” looks back on his good years in Nîmes. But now, its colors are Angevin.
The career of a football player can sometimes mean very little. That of Antonin Bobichon changed in spring 2018. It is largely from the sidelines that the midfielder witnessed the irresistible course of the NO in Ligue 2 during the 2017/2018 season. At the end of the contract and very little used, it seems that the young man’s future at Nîmes Olympique is compromised. ” I didn’t have a button anywhere else. It was tense for me Remembers the midfielder.
“It was an incredible atmosphere”
But everything changes three days from the end. “Savanier was suspended and Valdivia injured. I was able to play the important meetings. ” Indeed, in football as in life, the misfortune of some often makes the happiness of others. Bobichon is a starter in Clermont and during the promotion match in Ligue 1 against Gazélec d’Ajaccio. Nîmes wins against Corsica (4-0) and regains the elite of French football 25 years after leaving it. The joy of the people of Nimes exceeds any description and Antonin will never forget it, “It was an incredible atmosphere”.
Bernard Blaquart had told him to be patient, that his turn would come. Promise kept, at the best of times. The midfielder seized his chance by delivering an assist in Auvergne and scoring against Ajaccio. The Nîmes coach believes in the qualities of his foal and insists that he obtain an extension. In a few weeks, the Bagnolais went from uncertainty to Ligue 1.
First match in L1 and first goal against PSG
At the highest level of French football, Antonin will make a specialty: scoring great goals! The first leaves him with great memories. For his debut, he replaces Mustapha Diallo at half-time for NO – PSG (September 1, 2018). Just enough time to warm up and 18 minutes after entering, on a pass from Thioub, he found Areola’s left skylight. Nimes equalizes and Antonin rejoices. PSG won 4-2 but the Nîmes won some of his gallons of holder. The next day, he did it again with a masterful free kick in Bordeaux (3-3). He will score five more that season, each one as beautiful as the next.
But the 2019/2020 offseason is that of the exodus of talent from Nîmes. In the list of departures, we find: Savanier, Bouanga, Thioub and Alioui. After some procrastination, Bobichon also cuts the cord with his training club. “ It was my choice and I was really happy to leave. We left by mutual agreement and that’s fine. “ assumes the Gardois who had desires elsewhere. He had perhaps also sensed that the NO had eaten his white bread.
“I would like to play more”
Antonin then took over the management of Angers and joined the Nîmes diaspora already well supplied with Butelle, Alioui, Thioub and a year later Bernardoni. In Maine-et-Loire, Antonin finds a little stability, far from the turbulence of the NW. A choice he does not regret: “I think it’s more structured than in Nîmes and the training center is really nice. I feel good, the group is at the top. ”
The context is pleasant but the former Nîmes is still trying to win in the first team. Eight times holder last season and only four times in the current year, he is determined to fight to gain the confidence of Stéphane Moulin, the coach of the SCO: “I would like to play more, I try to work to be present when I am called upon. It’s not the ideal playing time but you have to hang in there and it will come. “
“I must say that I miss my sun a little”
Even if he is no longer Nîmes, Bobichon has not forgotten his friends. Those with whom he made the four hundred blows during his young years. ” With Valls, Ripart, Briançon, Paquiez and Depres we are often in contact and when I have the opportunity to go down to the Gard, I always take a moment to go and see them. ” Words go away but friends stay and they have great stories to tell each other when they meet again. “I am very attached to my village and my department. I must say that I miss my sun a little, but I am well in Angers » explains the one who grew up in Saint-Paulet-de-Caisson.
So the traditional question about the famous special match was inevitable. ” Many players have left since my time in Nîmes, so it’s a little less special ”. With the NO, Antonin has turned the page and he only keeps the good times. The boy is not the type to spread his moods anyway. For Nîmes supporters, he will remain the Crocodile who scored the most beautiful goals when Nîmes was having fun in the elite of French football.
Norman Garden
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