“Hey, the fumi, are they on?
» Final adjustments before the ceremony and the entry of the 18 flags carried by the kids from the different districts.
The temperature rises again, if it were possible.
Speakers spit Rocket from Hola Chica.
“We are going to start, you can applaud the children”, launches the announcer, before the arrival of the first two teams: Guinea and Turkey, then the broadcast of their anthem.
"The other nations are asked to come out!"
“, he continues.
"Woouhaaa, it's hot!
“ This teenager, a spectator in the gallery, summed up the torrid atmosphere which surrounded this Saturday evening, the launch of the CAN of the districts (or Cup of Aulnay of the nations), at the Vélodrome stadium of the city.
Synthetic turf has replaced the traditional "Concrete", the emblematic city-stadium where previous editions of this amateur tournament, which is very popular with young street footballers, were played.
And in everyone's opinion, the matches promise to be more technical and of a higher level.
Teams of athletes from different neighborhoods will challenge each other until the final on July 10, wearing the colors of 18 different countries.
But the first thing that strikes is of course the heat wave which weighs down a little more with each step.
"It's 38°C there," said one of the organizers a few minutes before kick-off, crossing the Stade Vélodrome, transformed into an oven in the literal sense.
"We are in the conditions of the Can (Editor's note: the African Cup of Nations)", exclaims with a laugh Jeff Mathurin, president of the AJIS (Association for young people through integration and solidarity) and head orchestra of the event that he puts together with the help of commentator Micro3ks.
Aulnay, Stade Vélodrome, this Saturday evening.
Guinea and Turkey played the opening match of the Coupe d'Aulnay des nations, a very popular amateur tournament that brings together neighborhoods and talents.
The first matches have also been postponed by an hour and a half, to allow the heat to fall slightly.
"We have planned sprays for the public to cool off", specifies Jeff Mathurin.
The participants in the Can d'Aulnay are between 15 and 32 years old.
Among them, Kader, 21, midfielder from Guinea and who plays in life, in Drancy.
“He is very promising,” says his coach, Saliou.
“Football is the best sport in the world!
“, underlines Kader who would like to become pro.
In the stands, there are many boys but also girls, like Bernadette, 20 years old.
“I'm very interested in this sport because it brings people together,” she explains.
Football is popular in the neighborhoods, it's a culture.
»
Not very far from her, there is Jawahire, 21, a student at the Beaux-Arts in Paris who grew up in Aulnay.
“I know everyone, these are faces that I have seen since I was a child, she confides.
I came with my film camera to shoot sincere portraits and capture the energy that emanates from them.
This is a privileged moment for me.
" Bernadette regrets the atmosphere of Concrete a little: "It was a rather special, atypical ground to which the players had to adapt.
»
After the meetings of this Saturday evening, between Guinea and Turkey, then Côte d'Ivoire (holders of the title) and Senegal, the Can continues this Sunday evening, with France-Cameroon and Morocco-Algeria.
