The start of the match could have opened with this little reminder. Touraine and Brittany have written together very beautiful pages of history, large and small. Without the marriage of Duchess Anne to King Charles VIII in Langeais for example, Brittany would probably not have been attached to France. It was at the Château d'Amboise that this same Charles VIII died when he hit his head against the stone lintel of a door.
Seven centuries later, it was again in Amboise that the Bretons of FC Lorient – nicknamed “les Merlus” – faced the first team of US Monnaie, during the eighth round of the French Football Cup on Saturday November 30, 2024 And among the 3,200 spectators present, some even displayed their dual “nationality”. Starting with the mayor of Monnaie, Jacques Lemaire, Breton through his wife. Or Maxime who had proudly hoisted a gigantic Breton flag (the Gwenn ha Du): “I was born in Hennebont (Morbihan) but I live and work in Amboise. » Yohann Lancien, who lived in Quimperlé (Finistère) for a long time, made the trip to support his brother Christopher, the striker of the Modena team.
“A huge event for us”
The physical and technical superiority of Lorient (in Ligue 2), winner by 5 to 0, therefore stopped the superb progress of local players who play four levels below. But what a beautiful adventure it was. Two hundred volunteers from the Monnaie club rallied around his team.
Mélanie arrived at the Georges-Boulogne stadium at 2:30 a.m. to transform 600 kg of potatoes into fries. Responsible for the three refreshment bars, at half-time she gave a small idea of the quantities brought to warm up the public: 2,500 merguez and as many sausages, a thousand baguettes, 64 barrels of beer of 30 liters each, 150 liters of mulled wine. “This is a huge event for us. We've never experienced this before! “, she emphasized. At the end of the match, there wasn't a single fries left to eat!
The long line of supporters upon their arrival at the Georges-Boulogne stadium in Amboise, this Saturday, November 30, 2024.
© (Photo cor. NR, Frédéric Dubuisson)
Delphine, mother of two players aged 17 and 15, testifies to the immense fervor which reigned throughout the week preceding the match: “We had meetings every evening. We had to turn around in just two weeks, since we knew we were facing Lorient. » The mayor of Monnaie, present in the stands, displayed a broad smile: “We shine like never before. At the start of the year, the club was offered a synthetic football pitch, playable in any weather. I salute the commitment of the volunteers and I thank my colleague mayor of Amboise for hosting this wonderful celebration. »
Brice Ravier, whose agenda included 7 official events on Saturday (1), returns the ball to him. “This football festival is the fruit of a cordial understanding between Monnaie and Amboise. I immediately said banco. In the past, Amboise hosted the U17 women's football championships. So we have a certain know-how! »
After the match and despite the defeat, we still discussed, within the US Monnaie, the idea of extending this beautiful run in the Coupe de France with a friendly evening. In Breton, it translates to “fest-noz”.
(1) In addition to the match, Amboise hosted the general assembly of French Remembrance, the Sainte-Barbe ceremony, the inauguration of Christmas at the castle, the Telethon, the launch of the illuminations and the great stroll through the city center.
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