the essential
All of Marmande is preparing feverishly for this meeting. No, we're not talking about New Year's Eve, its dishes or the gifts we'll give each other. That's for later… We are, in fact, talking about the match that FC Marmande will play on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. against Le Mans in the 32nd final.
So yes, we can well imagine the “football” leaders and volunteers running everywhere with those of rugby currently to meet the specifications of the FFF and accelerate the preparation and reception of the many supporters who will come, from Marmande, from Lot- et-Garonne and even, we all hope, Albret, Aquitaine, Alsace, Lorraine and Navarre if necessary. Because it will take people, a lot of people, a lot of people to support and accompany Nicolas Flores' players in this new qualification mission, namely to get out of Le Mans and secure the golden ticket to the 16th finals of the competition. Because if nothing has changed (or barely) on the side of the Marmandais, unfolding their routine (almost) identical to ordinary weeks of current affairs of the championship, the excitement will inevitably rise to a crescendo, from Michelon to Dartailh, the rugby stadium, usual lair of US Marmande, which will become, for one evening, the “theater of dreams” (1) of FC Marmande. While it is highly likely that Nicolas Flores, the coach who put the FCM back on track after having experienced success with the club's U17s by bringing them to the national championship of the category, already has a big idea of the group which will face the Le Mans on Sunday, there is no doubt that the players will be hypermotivated to play Le Manceaux.
And we will have to be motivated, determined, committed like never before, without ceasing to be totally focused on their match, their actions and their decisions so as not to lose track of their probable exploit. Let's not forget that opposite, Le Mans, with its professional status, plays four divisions above the FCM and represents a beautiful monument of French football: 9th in Ligue 1 in 2008, semi-finalist of the Coupe de France 1999 , three times semi-finalist of the now defunct Coupe de la Ligue (2006, 2007 and 2008) and winner of the Gambardella Cup in 2004, without forgetting a few names famous people who have passed through there: Yohann Pelé, Daniel Cousin, Sébastien Corchia, Grégory Cerdan, Daisuke Matsui, Tulio de Melo or Ismaël Bangoura… And even if all this rests today on the shelves of the cabinet with memories of the Manceau club, it nevertheless remains true that Le Mans is a good opponent and that FC Marmande would also make a very good winner. Ah, one last thing again, before concluding: we would see the Dartailh stadium first being the “Caudron” (2) before being the “theater of dreams” of FC Marmande. Something boiling, on fire and in fusion for an FCM that won't even be afraid…
