At 41, Edouard Cissé, smiled when the draw for the eighth finals of the Coupe de France designated Pau FC (National), his former club and that of his hometown, as an opponent of PSG where he played for ten years (1997-2007). According to him, Wednesday's meeting leaves little room for suspense.
Pau-PSG, is this a match you would have liked to play?
EDOUARD CISSÉ . But I played it 22 years ago! In the Coupe de France already. In early 1998 I think. I had just signed in Paris and I was going back to my old team. We won 1-0 after extra time ( note: Rai's goal in the 113th minute ) and I entered for ten minutes ( he had actually replaced Fournier in the 68th ).
What memories do you keep of it?
It was a very tense match with a lot of expulsions from the Palois side ( three ). After the match, Alain Roche and others came to tell me: was that your old team? But it's nags! ( laughs ) I replied: no, no, we were playing long before!
What will this Pau-PSG of 2020 look like?
I think Pau FC was more likely to beat us at the time! There, sincerely ... I just hope that the Palois will apprehend this match with a real utopia to win otherwise it will be the fair. There is such a difference on paper that if there is not a bit of madness there is no point in going there. If the Palois come to take selfies, it's dead.
How did you end up playing football in Pau?
Because the big brothers played football ... But Pau is the land of rugby and basketball. So at 14 I oscillated between basketball and football. After soccer training, I took my bike to go to the playground of the Palais des sports and do the shots. Around 16-17 years old, I chose soccer because finally I was not that bad and I liked it.
Do you think about it with nostalgia?
What is special is that I was born in Pau but I started soccer, from 8 to 16 years old, in the small, very family club, in Billère, three kilometers away. My childhood was more like Billère, the Reds and Whites, having fun with friends and ... taking suitcases. I learned to lose before I learned to win. This is why I have always put my defeats into perspective! Then Pau FC allowed me to be in the antechamber of a little serious football, where I always had to win ... It was the beginning of something we will say.
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The match takes place at the Hameau, the stadium of the Section Paloise. What are your links with rugby?
Rugby was very present. On Saturday afternoon, when the Section was playing, there was no one left in the city. And then I didn't go to a training center so rugby was important to me because I had friends who played in the Section. We met on Thursday or Friday evening in the Triangle district.
Pau is also the city of the Tour de France isn't it?
Exactly! Arrivals and departures the next day I was going with my best friend. And then my dad worked for a long time at the Continental hotel which welcomed runners. They always left small gifts. So I had gourds, jerseys, stuff like that ...
Are you surprised by the Palois enthusiasm for this Cup match?
It's a bit distorted because it's PSG. You would go to Mars, they would be happy too! But, yes, there is an appetite for sport in Pau and I sincerely think that there is room for the three sports ( football, rugby, basketball ). It has been a workhorse for many years, but I believe that Pau FC at least deserves to have a team in Ligue 2.
What do you think of the PSG situation at the start of 2020?
In France, Parisians have such a psychological ascendancy that one has the impression that the opponents do not believe it. But the rare moments when the teams believed in it and pushed it, we saw Paris in difficulty. So there they do the job, but beware… The deal is February-March, not now. For the Champions League, we will have to raise the level. However, they haven't found the solution yet. The problem, we know where it is: in the middle. I've been highlighting this since the start of the season.
