Abiola Badirou would like to “see a little further” with Tours FC

Their victory songs could be heard echoing throughout the locker room corridors of the Cher Valley. Maybe even beyond. This Saturday, on their lawn, the Tours FC (R1) players experienced a new magical moment by validating their ticket for the 32^es final of the Coupe de France at the expense of OC Cesson (N3).

A superior opponent on paper, which Bryan Bergougnoux's men were able to subdue by offering a controlled performance but, above all, in their image (3-0). A brilliant success in which Abiola Badirou stood out, scorer of Touraine's second goal, his tenth of the season in all competitions, so valuable in pushing the Bretons' heads a little further this Saturday.

Abiola, what is your feeling after this qualification?

“We are satisfied, we did what was necessary. Apart from this immense joy, there is not much to add. I think everyone who came to the match had fun. We, on the ground, took some in any case. We will now wait for the draw quietly. »

You never seemed to be able to be really worried by this Cesson team…

“We got off to a good start, scoring straight away, but ultimately it didn't bother us for ten minutes. We scored so early that we didn't know what to do! But we quickly got back into it and when we started to win the duels again, to increase the intensity, with a goal in advance it's always easier and we were able to manage the match well afterwards.

In the end, it was the work of the whole season that paid off. There are matches like that where, in quotes, everything goes well for you. But it is above all the fruit of the work behind it. However, we know that it will not always be like this, that we will have to continue to work to always offer better and progress further. This has been the guideline since the start of the season, and we will try to stay on it whatever happens. »

What did you analyze about this team?

“From what we knew, Cesson was a team that played fairly direct. So there was going to be danger on the long balls, the second balls. The objective was to be aggressive at first to prevent them from evolving in comfort. And then play as usual. Move the ball around and attack quickly whenever possible. We took their strengths into account, without changing our identity. And it worked. »

So here you are in 32^e of final. What does this mean to you?

« And 32^e of the Coupe de France final, that’s no small thing. And since we have a fairly young group, I think that it will please a lot of people. Me, I'm a little more pragmatic. I say to myself, why not find a team a little more at our level and go even further? I'm more like that, I would prefer affordable training, rather than Ligue 1, and moving up to 16^e of final. I already played a 32^e final in my career (with Chantilly in R1, beaten 4-0 by Guingamp, then in Ligue 1). This time I would like to try to see a little further. »