In the long queue for the bar, the trip to Nice for the semi-finals of the Coupe de France on March 1 was at the heart of the discussions this Saturday afternoon in Versailles. “Are you coming, can I sign you up?” asks a volunteer from Versailles to a spectator. “I find it a shame that the club did not manage to find a solution in the Paris region,” said Guy, a 60-year-old from Versailles. As we announced, Nice, confirmed by the voice of its president Jean-Pierre Rivère that it would take care of “the costs of plane, hotel and coach” from Versailles.
In the stands of the Montbauron stadium, there were a few more people than usual for this clash of group A of National 2 against Chartres, around 500 people. But it is the sixty supporters of Chartres who made the most noise. Deprived of Christopher Ibayi (expelled against Bergerac) and Diego Michel (suspended a match for having bet), Versailles, who was playing his last meeting before his semi-final in Nice, had opened the scoring by Kapit Djoco (5th goal of the season in championship), the scorer of the qualification in Toulouse. But Chartres quickly equalized (1-1, 77th).
Talks in the locker room
In the standings, it’s the status quo, so a good operation for the Versailles leader who therefore retains an 8-point lead over the team coached by Jean-Pierre Papin (who have a game behind). But this match ended in confusion and with a complaint (for the form) of Chartres. Youcef Chibhi, the coach of Versailles, would indeed have complained to the referee about some of his decisions. He would have replied: “Don’t complain, I could have whistled three penalties against you”. A sentence that Jean-Pierre Papin and Gérard Soler, the delegate president of Chartres, did not appreciate. The palaver continued in the locker room.
A good half hour later, in front of his team’s bus, Papin said he “regrets these three penalties”. “Versailles, we know them well, we had time to observe them in the Coupe de France, smiles the 1991 Ballon d’Or. So we knew what to expect. The plan was to leave the ball to them by blocking Vieira in the middle. It worked well. They had no mastery and were unable to build. They played with long balls for Touré and Djoco who go fast. Above all, we must not lose. One point would have satisfied me before the game, but here I think we deserved three. Nothing is finished yet for the climb. But it will be mandatory to win our late game in Rouen next week. »
“In Nice, it will be more complicated”
While Clément Chantôme transferred from Poissy to Chartres for ten thousand euros in January was in deep conversation with former PSG coaches Laurent Fournier and Jean-Luc Vasseur, Jean-Pierre Papin then took a little height on the game. He wanted to pay tribute to the course of Versailles.
“There is a great team here, a great project and great facilities even I know that the stadium would not be approved in National, resumes JPP. The Versailles people want to go up? But they are not the only ones, there is competition in the Paris region with Paris FC, Red Star… In the Coupe de France, they represent the National 2 well. This shows that at our level, there is also clubs that work well. Even though they only knocked out a top club, Toulouse, I can only take my hat off to them. All amateur clubs would dream of making their way and being in their place in the semi-finals. We, the first… In Nice, it will be more complicated. But we were already saying that before they went to Toulouse. So anything is possible…”
Papin who was president of the commission of the Coupe de France, does not understand, however, the inversion of the match. “Pardon me for the expression but I find it stupid that no club in the Paris region lends them its stadium. The Parc des Princes would have been great. They really deserved it. »
VERSAILLES – CHARTRES 1-1 (0-0)
Buts. Versailles: Djoco (61st); Chartres: Hemia (77th).
Versailles : Yrango – Durand de Gevigney (cap.), Akueson, Diouf – Pham Ba, Diarrassouba, Vieira, Traoré, Sylva (Berkak, 78th), Djoco (Brun, 78th), Touré. Entr. : Chibi.
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