Mathieu Warnier, Media365: published on Saturday December 21, 2024 at 11:45 p.m.
While Strasbourg ended Calais' run in the Coupe de France without firing a shot, Sékou Mara said he wanted to go far in this competition. For his part, Claudio Beauvue called on his Calais teammates to learn lessons from a journey that began last September.
Strasbourg did not fail. On the pitch of the Stade de l'Epopée, the Alsatian club put an end to Calais's run during the 32nd finals of the Coupe de France. Author of a double this Saturday, Sékou Mara stressed that there was “a lot of respect for this Calais team” from the Alsatians. Against players who “also did their job”, the Strasbourg striker admitted at the microphone of beIN Sports that his team “was above” during this meeting, adding that “it shows in the result”. “They had a very good match and we wish them the best for the future,” said Sékou Mara in a message to the Calais residents. A meeting which, however, only settled in the second period. For the Alsatian striker, “there was perhaps a slight lack of technical accuracy in the first half”, which could be corrected at the break. However, as he points out, “the most important thing is victory”. A success that calls for more in a competition that RC Strasbourg has only won three times, the last victory dating back to 2001.
Mara: “When we play, it’s to win”
“The Coupe de France is necessarily a goal for the club,” concluded Sékou Mara. We are competitors, from the coach to the players through to the technical support. So, obviously, when we play, it’s to win and it’s the same for the Coupe de France. » A trophy that Claudio Beauvue was also able to lift, in 2014 with Guingamp. However, the course of the Pas-de-Calais club ends in these 32nd finals at the end of a meeting whose progress could leave regrets, in particular with the penalty missed by Luca Pélissier at the end of the first act. “It’s clear that in the first half, if we manage to score this first goal, I think we can hold the match with the public pushing us,” he confided on the microphone of beIN Sports. As often happens in the Coupe de France, you feel yourself growing wings, the opposing team starting to have doubts about its quality. It was different. » Regretting that his team “did not know how to be clinical in the fateful moments” against Strasbourg who “knew how to score at the decisive moment”, Claudio Beauvue sees “the difference between Calais and Strasbourg”. However, the player who played for Lyon during his career hopes that his teammates will learn from such a meeting with a view to the rest of the season in National 3.
Beauvue: “We must not lower our heads”
“We have to be aware of the ingredients that we have to use against a Ligue 1 team,” he confided. We will have to work a lot in this second half of the season to move up the rankings. There is quality in the team but you also have to know how to listen and be very diligent about the instructions of the coach or veterans like me. » Claudio Beauvue thus calls on the Calais club to “use this Coupe de France”, which was “a great epic” that began in the 3rd round last September. “It’s been two years in a row that we’ve reached the round of 32, it’s something good,” he underlined. We must not lower our heads, life goes on. » If he has “quite a few failures in (his) career but also quite a few joyful moments”, the Guadeloupean takes his success in this competition as an example to affirm that “anything can happen in life” before concluding in sending a final message to his teammates. “We must not give up and continue to work, especially work and listening,” he confided. Which is very hard with the new generation. » Which the Calaisiens will be able to implement from January 11, for the resumption in the championship against the Lille reserve.
