Difficult return to reality for the Petit Poucet of the Coupe de France after his historic match against Olympique de Marseille, on January 2: the workforce is decimated by the Covid.
The aches of the players of the US Chauvigny were not all due to the intensity of the meeting against the Marseillais the day after a 16th final forever legendary for the small club of Poitou. The magic of the Cup had just given way… to the pandemic.
I was only able to practice two days, Thursday and Friday, and with only eight negative guys.
Stéphane Malloyer, USC coach
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Assessment for the team: nine players with Covid and a match canceled on January 8 against the leader of the N3 championship, Stade Bordelais. What give serious headaches to the coach.
“The recovery is complicated. I was only able to train for two days, Thursday and Friday, and with only eight negative guys. It was not great”, explains Stéphane Malloyer, coach of the USC.
The fever of this big evening in Limoges against OM has passed for the Chauvinois coach. We now have to think about the championship with all the uncertainties about the physical state of its workforce. Review of the troops in training this Tuesday before the reception of the Girondins de Bordeaux (team 2) on January 15 at the Gilbert Arnault stadium in Chauvigny.
“This pandemic is falling on us when we have a difficult calendar in January-February (note: in addition to two games late): Bordeaux, Bayonne, Poitiers, Anglet …”, recalls Stéphane Malloyer.
Only heavyweights from this New Aquitaine hen in national 3 where USC occupies sixth place in the standings.
“Back to our daily bread”, comments Julien Caillaud, the goalkeeper of USC and hero of the series of shots on goal against Le Havre in the eighth round of the Coupe de France (0-0; TAB 4-3).
“Playing the Girondins for the recovery is very good to keep us at a high level of excitement… We still have the OM match in our hands so we will be able to keep this spark to hold on”, he continues.
This meeting against OM in the round of 16 at the Beaublanc stadium in Limoges remains a dream poster for Poitou. The match was played on a Sunday evening at 9 p.m., the time of the big matches for French football.
In the shoes of Blood and Gold, it is not RC Lens that officiates but the club of the small town of Chauvigny, about twenty kilometers from Poitiers. The gauge was certainly limited to 8,000 spectators (instead of the 13,000 seats in the stadium), but there was a lot of noise and fervor. Thousands of Chauvinois supporters had traveled to Limousin by bus or car.
We have to face the facts: we weren’t going to end up at the Stade de France!
Julien Caillaud, USC goalkeeper
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Even before the kick-off, the songs of the ultras of Chauvigny faced those of the Marseillais. In the end, the‘USC will resist 30 minutes before being attacked by Dimitri Payet’s partners. Final score 0-3, a guard of honor for the OM players to salute the course of Petit Poucet in the Coupe de France and, an elimination with the taste of victory.
“It was the first time that I came out of a match so happy having lost (smile)… It’s quite paradoxical but we have to face the facts, we weren’t going to end up at the Stade de France!” analyzes Julien Caillaud.
On the ground there was a difference in level, the Marseillais having fielded their best players. This is also the proof that they respected us
Gérard Herbert, Mayor of Chauvigny
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This dream outcome in the final, Gérard Herbert, the mayor of Chauvigny, wanted to believe it, carried by the enormous enthusiasm around his favorite club. “I got caught up in the game throughout this adventure which ended with a great party against OM for all the Chauvinois, remembers Gérard Herbert. Even if on the ground there was a difference in level, the Marseillais having aligned their best players. This is proof that they respected us.”
A whole chauvinist people experienced this enchanted parenthesis at the time of the Covid. From qualification against Le Havre, a league 2 team coached by Paul Le Guen, to the elimination of Chartres (N2) and his illustrious coach Jean-Pierre Papin, USC has written a great page in its history. Maybe for eternity.
“Forever the first”, in reference to the OM slogan for their title of European champion in 93.
It was the first time that Chauvigny reached the 16th finals of the Coupe de France. In 2010, the Sang et Or du Poitou managed to bring out a league 2 team, Châteauroux, before losing in the 32nd final against Le Mans, also in the antechamber of the elite.
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