He is one of the main players in this 104th edition of the Coupe de France.
Despite the end of the amateur championships for six months, Farid Fouzari, the coach of Canet-en-Roussillon, achieved the incredible performance of bringing his formation of National 2 (4th division) to the quarterfinals of the event. .
To get there, the amateur club of Pyrénées-Orientales achieved the feat of eliminating OM (2-1) in the round of 16, then beating (1-0) Boulogne-sur-Mer (Nat.) on the next round.
This Tuesday, his team faces Montpellier, undefeated for 14 games.
“His serenity is incredible and he is always confident.
This gives us strength, says Diadié Diarra, Canet's captain.
He manages to predict the scenario in each game, it's pretty crazy.
Tactically, he is very involved in defensive work and humanely, he makes frank choices.
With him, there is never cronyism.
The best play.
Since his arrival, he has transformed our team.
"
Retired player
Fouzari, 53, has a lot of experience and has lived several epics in the Coupe de France. Before training, the native of Charleville-Mézières played in L2, for ten years at CS Sedan and OFC Charleville. “He was a rough, old-fashioned defender. He never gave up on a field, remembers the former pro, Régis Roch, who has coached the goalkeepers of many Ile-de-France clubs, including Racing. His seriousness and consistency allowed him to have a good career as a D2 player. "
This finished, he became coach of the under-18s, then assistant coach of the pennant team of Sedan, one of his two favorite clubs.
In 2005, he saw his first epic in the Coupe de France, as assistant to Serge Romano.
Sedan, then in L2, lost in the final against Auxerre and moved up to L1.
“He gave me good advice because at the time I was a young player.
I confused speed and haste, remembers the Algerian international, Nadir Belhadj, Sedan from 2004 to 2007. It was great to work with him.
He was very close to the players in all circumstances.
"
Two round of 16
In 2007, he left the Ardennes for the first time and landed at Paris FC, then in National, as assistant coach of Jean-Guy Wallemme. “I was looking for an assistant, so I called the coaches union which offered me several profiles,” says Wallemme, currently stationed in Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël (N2). With Farid, we were in exchange, trust and competence. He was really a great source of ideas. “During this season, Paris FC climbed to the round of 16 of the Coupe de France, after eliminating Toulouse (L1).
After two years in the Paris region, he returned to Sedan as an assistant before taking, alone, the reins of the pennant team of a club which had just suffered a bankruptcy, in 2013. His training ended up CFA 2 champion ( 5th division), then CFA in stride. The following year he was replaced halfway through the championship, while the Ardennes were in the second half of the table. “It's quiet strength. He doesn't speak much and gets to the point, says Roch, in charge of the goalkeepers in his staff at Sedan. Patrick Rémy (
Editor's note: former L1 coach in Sedan, Caen or Troyes
) was his mentor. Farid still has a very optimistic and ambitious speech. He has an easy relationship. "
Since 2015, Fouzari has put his bags in five different clubs. But the Coupe de France still sticks to his skin with two round of 16 with Prix-lès-Mézières (CFA 2) in 2017 and Athletico Marseille (CFA 2) in 2020. He set the bar higher this year. . And he is not sated.
