Third of Ligue 2 before returning to the championship in 2025, the USL Dunkirk had one last opportunity to impress and confirm a possible new status as a contender for the climb this Sunday. Facing Auxerreon a lawn at Abbé-Deschamps where several big names in French football, including PSG (1-1), lost their teeth, the Maritimes concluded their year with a great performance and a qualification in the round of 16 of the French Cup (1-0). Enough to satisfy the USLD coach, Luis Castrowho answered questions from journalists in the post-match conference.
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His view of the performance of his men
“I am very happy with the performance. We come to play away against a good Ligue 1 team, who are having a very good championship. We win 1-0 and if there is another result, it will be 2 or 3-0 in my opinion, and I am very happy. We faced a good coach, one of the best in Ligue 2 last year and who does things well in L1 too. They have good players, it’s a historic French club. Being able to play outside with our personality is a good thing. »
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Did the USLD get up to the level of L1 in this match?
“It's only one match, we need to continue working to get better little by little, day after day. But today we played better than a Ligue 1 team.”
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What has changed in Dunkirk?
“A lot of things. The club is no longer the same as when I arrived, the administrative and sports management have given a lot of things on a daily basis to help us progress. […] We also changed a lot of players. I think the strongest point is that we know the route we have chosen. Within the club, no one thinks differently from anyone else. We know the way, even if we lost the first two matches of the championship at the start of the season, we changed nothing and we continued. We know our objective, the way we want to play. »
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Can the USLD still hide?
“If you compare our budget with that of other Ligue 2 teams, you will be very surprised […] I think you know that the club will change in the future. But right now, we train fifteen minutes from our locker room […] Today, the refereeing was great. I don't think the referees do it on purpose, but when we play against the best teams in Ligue 2, there are a lot of decisions that are difficult for us. There are a lot of things that make us very small right now. Little by little, we will grow. But if today, I say that we play the climb against Lorient, Metz, Paris FC, Guingamp, Caen, Troyes… I say that we play the next match to win and that we will not change our way of playing. play, regardless of the team facing us. But to say that we are going to play to go up would be presumptuous of me. I will continue to work, give my best. I know the players will do the same. I am very lucky to have them with me. »
Photo Hugo Pfeiffer/Icon Sport
