Yassine Azahaf, the Arlacais coach, said nothing more within minutes of the match: “I’m proud of my boys. We said before the game, we have no right to be ashamed or humiliated. I didn’t want us to lose with a heavy score. We are far from having done it and we have earned the respect of the Chamois Niortais and this is the main thing. The game plan was respected and, frankly, my players did the right thing. They fought, fought body and soul. The opponents were effective and at the slightest mistake you pay in cash. This is the high level. But when you count the number of chances they’ve had, you can tell that our game plan worked. My boys held out until the end and that shows some mental strength! “.
“There is nothing to be ashamed of”
If the score has remained there, we must congratulate the goalkeeper, Thomas Jacquemin, author of several decisive saves at the end of the game. However, he harbored some regrets. We felt that there were spaces to play in the middle and that is why in the second half we played the football that we have been playing since the beginning of the season. I think we did it brilliantly today against a Ligue 2 team. We have nothing to be ashamed of, even Niortais found themselves in a bit of trouble against us. I have some regrets, because we take this goal after ten minutes. In the first half they didn’t have many chances, however no clear chances. I think the goal is the only shot on goal in the first half. A bit of regret then, but as what to play against professional teams, you play on the details and today was the detail of the 10th minute. “
Marc Rafa, as a good captain, wanted to keep all the positive aspects for his club: “A little disappointed, because I think we had a bit of control in the second half. When we got 1-0 at half-time, we thought there was a way. We felt them a little feverish, not necessarily confident, so we went back to our usual game plan by playing high. It worked as we generally had more ball possession. The game plan was consistent, but we lacked a bit of success, a bit of madness perhaps to equalize. It is football, but we are proud of the journey we have made and of having been able to offer the club a match against a league 2 “.
