"In life, sometimes it smiles, sometimes it's hard. Today, it's hard for you. But one day, it will be beautiful... It's cruel, but that's the way it is. It will remain a scar. But stay dignified because we gave everything... In a silent locker room, Karim Mazeghrane, the coach of the U19 FC 93 Bobigny, very moved, tries to comfort his players. Some are crying, their heads buried in their jerseys. The rapper Sefyu, very invested in the club, also comes to console them. Today, you have gained five years of experience. It's terrible, but it's going to make you grow a lot what happened there. Raise your head."
A few minutes earlier, they were joined in the 90th minute by Troyes on a penalty not really obvious (2-2). By scoring in the 85th (2-1), Samir Saib had literally set fire to the Auguste-Delaune stadium, filled to the brim by more than 1,500 spectators. Smoke bombs and fireworks were then launched... But with this equalization in the 90th, FC 93 experienced "the worst possible scenario" as Karim Mazeghrane says. The former French international, Alou Diarra, coach of the U19 Troyes, did not hide his relief.
By scoring in the 85th minute, Samir Saib thought he had done the hardest. Photo by LP/Icon Sport/Emma Da Silva LP/Icon Sport/Emma Da Silva
This match on the last day of Group B of the U19 National Championship was a real final. The stands were full, the atmosphere warm but without overflow. Recruiter for Lens, the former Tunisian international Alaeddine Yahia was particularly attentive. Lens will face one of the two teams in the quarter-finals of the playoffs. A match scheduled at the Bollaert stadium. A prospect that necessarily made the young people of Bobigny dream.
"Tomorrow, the Troyes players will train with the pros, we will be working at Amazon or elsewhere. We're hungry... Telling you that, I want to cry," captain Elia Darnel Digbeuti Kore said in the dressing room before kick-off. For them, it was almost the game of a lifetime and their early career. The one who can open doors...
In case of victory, FC 93 Bobigny would indeed have passed Troyes and would have finished 2nd. A qualifying spot for the playoffs (top two in each group). This level has only been reached once by a non-professional club, JA Drancy, last season. After experiencing this cruel scenario, FC 93 Bobigny finished 3rd in its group but with the highest number of points for an amateur club in the history of national U19.
"I have a group in my image, with vengeful boys"
But this Sunday in the corridors of the locker room, this statistic consoled no one. Even staff members or leaders had tears in their eyes. This outcome should not, however, overshadow the tremendous work done by FC 93 Bobigny and its breakthrough in the clubs that now count in Île-de-France. The National 2 team will play the climb to the end. And the U19s, have therefore offered themselves this great season for their first at this level. Last year, FC 93, then in R1, reached the quarter-finals of the Gambardella Cup, already with Karim Mazeghrane on the bench.
"We were programmed to maintain but we believed in our destiny," says Karim Mazeghrane. Me, I am a coach who comes from the bottom in the 9-3 and I have a group in my image, with vengeful boys who come from R1 or R1. But we played with our values. We are first and foremost collective, a group. Against Troyes, I had four absentees, suspended and injured. I don't know which team can play without 4 potential starters. But for us, that didn't stop us from playing a full game... This season, we have faced real machines but have always responded. Hot, it's very hard, it hurts... But of course this season has been magnificent and exceptional. »
So sad to see that.
But really well done. It's crazy what FC93 has built from U18 R1 last year to the battle to the end to win the play-offs of a national 👏
title The story is incredible and the ending terribly cruel. pic.twitter.com/v8tD3EthPM
— Multiple Football (@footmultiple) May 14, 2023
Unlike their counterparts from Montfermeil who have long been in the lead in Group A and who finish 4th, no FC 93 Bobigny player has yet signed for professional clubs. But several have contacts like striker Kayoum Mbamba, author of 19 goals this season or attacking midfielder Samir Saib. "I hope there will be two or three who will go to pro clubs, it will be the next step and a reward for this season," concludes Mazeghrane.