It is rather rare that an opportunity presents itself twice. However, this is what the ironic draw for the Coupe de France decreed on April 26.
Deprived of a semi-final that they had won the right to play against HBC Nantes in March 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic brutally interrupted all competitions, the players of the CCMHB find these same Nantes, this Friday evening. At the same stage the competition.
A major challenge but a fair return for the Chartres coach, Toni Gerona, who has, since his arrival at the club in 2019, as many qualifications in the semi-finals as French Cups played (2):
“This match is crucial: we know that. We really have to seize the chance we have to be able to play this game. And the best way to do that is to approach it as a final. »
Toni Gerona (empty)
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“That’s what we said to each other this week in training. In a dry match, we know we can do great things. We proved it in 2020 and again this year, ”warns the Spanish coach.
Nantes as a favorite
Will his men manage to thwart the odds against HBC Nantes, 2nd in the Starligue, winner of the Coupe de la Ligue in December* and favorite of the match? The step may seem high against a club that went from National 1 in 2005 to the Final Four of the Champions League in 2018.
An exemplary career that could inspire the CCMHB which has, in turn, climbed the ladder to the point of imagining, in the more or less short term, a qualification for the European Cup. An ascent which will necessarily go through tonight’s meeting: “It may be a little harder (than against Aix). But with a beautiful atmosphere in the Halle, it is possible. We can do it, ”says Bertrand Deschamps, loyal supporter of the CCMHB. “We are only looking for one thing, it is to progress from season to season”, recalled in the middle of the week the ex-Nantais Adrian Figueras.
In the line of sight, a final to be played at Bercy
For his part, Julien Meyer, hero of the qualification in the quarter-finals against Chambéry (26-25, April 20), recalled in an almost premonitory way, a month earlier, in the wake of the 4th round won calmly against Limoges , that “there are great stories that can be written in the Coupe de France”.
Precisely, he and his partners will be at the heart of the matter tonight. The opportunity for supporters, employees, players and managers to measure the path traveled between the creation of the ancestor of the CCMHB, CS Mainvilliers Handball, in 1969, and the next milestone in the history of the club: the entry in its future room in the Colosseum and its capacity of around 4,000 seats, scheduled for the end of 2023.
Figueres reunites with Nantes
It is up to Yvan Vérin and others to write another before. A Coupe de France final, against the great PSG** of Nikola Karabatic, which is moreover at the Accor Arena in Paris-Bercy (June 11), could be an option: “The danger is to get there. see before time. What is certain is that we all want to write the most beautiful page in the history of the club. This match is an opportunity to put Chartres in the spotlight. And for us, to live the most significant moment of our career, ”recalls Vérin, 21, who arrived at the CCMHB when the club returned to the Starligue (2018), impatient to do battle with the Nantes armada, led by its host of internationals like Aymeric Minne, Valéro Rivera or even the dreaded Danish goalkeeper Emil Nielsen.
“They have a lot of arguments to make. Above all, they have an extraordinary ability to adapt. We led 55 minutes there (note: March 26, in Starligue, for a narrow defeat 40-36). What is certain is that we will have to put a lot of intensity defensively. It will be necessary to achieve the perfect match to pass. We are stronger than two years ago. Young people like Yvan or Hugo (Jund) have progressed. Will that be enough to pass? We will see tonight,” observes Toni Gerona.
premium CCMHB players lose to Pays d’Aix
The latter will be able to rely on his strong men of the moment: the Danish rear Nicolaï Pedersen, who ends the season in a cannonball (12/15 in Aix, Friday), or his goalkeeper Julien Meyer who, despite the announcement of his departure for Schaffhausen (Switzerland) in 2023, still has his head in Chartres, in view of his last outings, in particular the most noticed, against Chambéry, in the quarter. So feat?
Relive, in pictures, the retransmission of the Pays d’Aix-CCMHB meeting in Starligue, Friday May 6:
* Facing Chambéry, December 20 (28-21).
** In the other semi-final, Paris SG, undefeated in the league, is the big favorite against Fenix Toulouse, Saturday May 14 at 7 p.m.
The match sheet for this Friday, May 13:
The course :
3e tour. Créteil – C’Chartres MHB 34-35 (February 8).
4th round. C’Chartres MHB – Limoges 42-31 (23 mars).
1/4 final. C’Chartres MHB – Chambéry 26-25 (April 20).
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David Berthelem
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