The flag of Côte d'Ivoire flies at the top of the city stadium. This Wednesday evening, the team won the CAN final in the Aulnay neighborhoods. For the last match of this amateur tournament inspired by the African Cup of Nations, Côte d'Ivoire gave up Morocco, 2-0. In a festive atmosphere, between firecrackers, sometimes, and songs that fuse. "We have the Moroccan festive audience and the dancing Ivorians so it's a fiery atmosphere," observes Jeff, the organizer of the Can. But this is the last time that this competition, launched in 2019, will be played on Béton, the city stadium on rue Auguste-Renoir. So this finale has a "special taste" for him.
Due to the weather, the final, scheduled for Tuesday evening, had to be postponed by 24 hours.
As a result, the public could not benefit from the usual bleachers.
About 1,000 people attended the meeting.
Some supporters were perched on benches, others on the fences or squarely on the basketball hoop.
“The reservation of the stands was scheduled for yesterday.
The rain decided otherwise but it is a wink of fate because we did not have one for the first.
It reminds us of our beginnings here, slips Jeff, who plans a synthetic area for the next CAN.
Having an official field will allow us to move upmarket.
"
"We will always have nostalgia for this land"
At the final whistle, 16-year-old Haby and her cousin, fervent supporters, are delighted.
"We only follow football through the Can," says Haby.
But there, we see that they hurt themselves when they fall on the ground compared to the grass of the television.
"
In the audience, the children wander around smiling in the crowd.
Hassan, he followed with attention the "quick footwork" of Moroccan players with his 12-year-old son.
They were not enough.
"It was well organized", still welcomes the forty-something, living in Villepinte.
“This year, there was level.
The game was better than last year, ”said Brandon, who supported the Ivorians.
For his part, Jeff appreciates the results of this "super season". “It ended with two great teams,” he enthuses. But the organizer is already turned towards the CAN of the 2022 districts. “Here, it was complicated at the level of the organization because it was necessary to divert the bus lines. We are in the middle of the neighborhood, in a dark place, he explains. The next tournament will make the game easier even if we will always be nostalgic for this field. "Stars in his eyes, Ahmed, 13, abounds:" I am sad to leave this place because this is where it all began. "