Heroes of this 105th edition of the Coupe de France, where they only failed in the semi-final against Nice (2-0) last March, the players of FC Versailles were at the Stade de France on Saturday evening for the final between the Riviera and Nantes.
Not on the pitch, but in the stands.
The Yvelines club was one of the 29 amateur formations, having participated this season in the 32nd final of the competition, invited by the FFF and its partner BetClic to attend the meeting.
A first.
Each club had 24 places.
The players and the technical staff of FC Versailles arrived at 5 p.m. at the Stade de France.
Midfielder Inza Diarrassouba is then challenged by a Nice supporter who asks him if he is indeed a player of the Yvelines club.
Installed, then, in the stands near the Nantes fans, the Versailles players rub shoulders with the players of Linas-Montlhéry (16th in the final after a success at the expense of Angers in the previous round) and those of Bergerac, their opponent in the quarter-finals.
Discussions start.
“It was great, we were in a great position, says Diarrassouba.
We first watched the Gambardella final (victory for Lyon at the expense of Caen after the penalty shootout).
It was funny to find 4 players from Caen who played against us two weeks earlier with their reserves in the league.
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“The spectator asked me if it was really me who had scored”
Between the two finals, the giant screens show the highlights of this 105th edition.
The fabulous course of Versailles and the goal of Inza Diarrassouba during the quarter-final in Périgueux against Bergerac (1-1 after, 5-4 on pens) figure prominently in the retrospective.
“The spectator sitting below me turned around and asked me if it was really me who had scored,” laughs the former Lyon-Duchère player.
The Bergerac players, winners of the Petit Poucet classification because of their feat against Metz (L1) in the 32nd final, then Saint-Étienne (L1) in the 16th final then take a lap of honor.
"We would have liked to be in their place, but they did not have the chance like us to go and prepare for Clairefontaine (Editor's note: before their round of 16 in Toulouse)",
confides Diarrassouba suddenly overwhelmed by emotion when he saw the Coupe de France trophy make its entrance on the lawn.
The images of the course scroll in a loop in his head.
“We are happy with our course, but we tell ourselves that we were almost there.
We were only 45 minutes from the Stade de France (it was 0-0 at half-time in the semi-finals).
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In a balanced match, Nantes won the 4th French Cup in its history thanks to a penalty from Ludovic Blas.
“We would have liked to face this Nantes team.
Playing in such an enclosure, with this great audience, would have been exceptional.
We would have given everything on the pitch playing with a low block, says the Versaillese.
During the match, we said to ourselves that we should have faced the Niçois in the Paris region and not at home.
With much more chances of qualification.
But we must now look to the future.
We had an exceptional season with this accession to the National and 2 defeats conceded in 37 games in all competitions.
With a little hindsight, we say to ourselves that we have done something incredible and that we have made history”.
