FC Marmande (R2) Le Mans FC (National)
FC Marmande
The likely team: Tchagouni – Bantol, Kim Jio, Compper (cap.), Bertrand – Antony, Yatchet, Rabord – Lother, Ewelike, Diallo. Remplaçants: Baudet, Boucif, Benhadouche, Clemente, Evain, Djia, Tchandeu,.
Le Mans FC
The likely team: Hatfout – Voyer, Matumona, Yahou (cap.), Calodat, Ouchen – Rossignol, Keita, Lauray – Vula, Guèye. Substitutes : Eyoum, Rabillard, Kocic, Zaïd, Bourlet, Nonnemacher, Bernardeau.
Lieu Marmande (Georges-Dartiailh stadium).
Arbitrator Alexandre Perreau-Niel
Hourly This Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
If FC Marmande (Regional 2) is indeed the Tom Thumb of the Coupe de France, the life of Daouda Diallo is far from being a fairy tale. This Sunday (5:30 p.m.) against Le Mans (National) in 32e final, the 24-year-old winger is preparing to play one of the most important matches of his life. Returning from the hell of an illness which deprived him of a professional career, he will be one of the centerpieces of a Lot-et-Garonnais collective in search of exploit, on which the Cup is nourished from France.
“We know he wants to return to the high level. This is all we wish for him and we will support him towards this dream”
Hindered by illness
The Old Lady could do tons on the trajectory of this child from Guinea, hitting the ball in the streets of Conakry before arriving in France to grow up, from 2018, within the Girondins de Bordeaux. A young attacker with a technique as fine as his frail physique at the time, he saw his progress slowed down by a rare illness. No more yesterday than today, he could not name it. “The doctors didn’t tell me exactly what I had,” he recalls. The main thing is that I am cured. Even though my family knows more about this disease than I do, I didn't want to know what it was. The important thing is that I'm in great shape today. »
“Thirty-five weeks of hospitalization” at the Bordeaux University Hospital in 2020 will still have been necessary for the pain in his feet and hands to disappear, a pathology which had appeared while he was playing with the navy and white U19s and that his career seemed all mapped out. He will eventually sign a first professional contract with Bordeaux, still in 2020, but an injury will once again prevent him from expressing his potential. Then come the difficult years of these castaways from the training centers. “It was complicated, I was coming off an illness, an injury, so I wasn't able to take advantage of my contract year,” confirms the young player. But it was complicated to find new clubs, since I was injured. »
Marmande’s favorite
This is where Marmande arrives. Daouda is far from her family, who are based in Strasbourg, and her dreams of a professional career. But the flow is flowing. “It was our sports director who saw him play at Stade Bordelais,” says the co-president of the Lot-et-Garonnais club, Lyazid Bahlali. Douada joined us in November 2023. He needed to get back on track, he believed in our project. » It is therefore in the seventh division of French football that this “very reserved, humble” young man regains his health and finds his place on the field.
Under the Lot-et-Garonnaise tunic, he plays with one of his former partners from the Bordeaux U19s, defender Mayverick Compper. “Daouda is my favorite, even if he is taller than me. He's a super nice, super, incredible guy, with exceptional physical qualities. » Those who can make him reappear on the radars of more upscale clubs? “We know that he wants to return to the high level,” adds his president. This is all we wish for him and we will support him towards this dream. »And that’s good, the match against Le Mans will be televised. Enough to burst the screen.
The match
Fearless Tom Thumb. Four divisions separate the two teams at kickoff. If the Mandeaux, 10es of National, advance as favorites, the Marmandais are undefeated, whether in their R2 championship or in the Coupe de France. The locals will rely on their center forward Unity Ewelike, the club's top scorer, and their arrow Daouda Diallo, to try to move a Sarthe block where the pair of attackers Guèye-Vula have scored 5 of the 15 goals scored in the Coupe de France.
