Union Saint-Jean – Monaco in the Coupe de France: “It’s still a match, we are competitors…” For the amateurs, it’s time for their day of glory

In 25 or 30 years, Mathias Capdeville will perhaps remember this Friday as a dream. This Friday when he entered, under the eye of the cameras and in front of the microphones of around ten journalists, into the press conference room of the Toulouse Stadium to answer questions about a match, his, the biggest of his life. The striker devoted seven years to a club, TFC, spent imagining that one day, he would walk on the pitch of the stadium he saw every morning when he opened the shutters of his room at the training center.

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He probably didn't think he would wear a red jersey and not purple, but that day is today. There are as many great stories as that of Mathias Capdeville as there are players at L'Union Saint-Jean, from those who work in the building to those who work at TFC (read our editions of the week) ; these are those shaped by the Coupe de France, a fantasy factory for amateur players, and after Revel last season (eliminated 9-0 by PSG), it is up to the club from the north-east of Toulouse to realize its own. “We remain children when it comes to football, always,” summarizes Marc Benimeli, former player, volunteer and member of the USJFC board of directors, 57 years old, who would have seen himself galloping on the field if he were thirty years younger . Instead, he used his legs to run around for three weeks, making this miracle stand up and ready for the big day.

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Since qualifying against Versailles (National 1) in the previous round, on November 30, the club born from the merger between L'Union and Saint-Jean in 2018 is experiencing everything faster, stronger, and bigger. “It especially rewards the work done at the club for several years, whether by the office or by the staff. That's what I want to remember” says Jérôme Sudriez, one of the two presidents of the USJFC. “It’s not because we make a run in the Cup that we become the best club in the region, we will remain humble about all that,” warns the 52-year-old. “All the light has been on us since the draw, but we are not fooled, it will go out and we will resume the course of history, we will continue to manage the club as we did until NOW.”

The Monegasque ogre

The light will go out, that's obvious, but it remains to be seen who will press the switch. If Versailles was electrocuted at the Georges-Beyney stadium of L'Union, AS Monaco, with its five victories in the Coupe de France (1960, 1963, 1980, 1985 and 1991) and eight French championship titles (1961, 1963, 1978, 1982, 1988, 1997, 2000 and 2017), is much better wired to withstand the shock on a terrain that he ultimately knows better than the home team today.

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But you never know. “On a misunderstanding, it can work,” the Tolosa Indians, the main group of TFC supporters, deployed in the stands during the Toulouse match against Liverpool in November 2023. It was a banner as much as an omen, since the Tef won (3-2), probably under the eyes of a bunch of players from Union Saint-Jean, and their coach Grégory Sorroche does not fail to point out that “this stadium has been magical in recent time for TFC in the European Cup”. To prepare the ground for an immense feat, the 44-year-old coach, thirteen of whom spent on the bench of L'Union then L'Union Saint-Jean, consumed hours of video, during which he came up against obvious: “Monaco has very few flaws.” He can at least reassure himself by saying that the current 3rd in the French championship and 16th in the Champions League is not going through the best period of his season, remaining with four defeats in six games, against Benfica, Marseille, Arsenal and Paris, for a draw, in Reims, and only one victory against… TFC.

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But the Union is not at its best either. While they had only lost once since the start of the season, Fawzi Rabyi and his teammates lost their last two matches, played after the draw for the 32nd final of the Coupe de France which must, apparently, nothing, running through the back of their minds for three weeks. For Petit Poucet Haut-Garonnais, it is not small pebbles, but rocks that will have to be scattered to escape the Monegasque ogre, but if there is one place where nothing is impossible, it is is in the Coupe de France and Mathias Capdeville, who scores goals like pearls in the competition (10), is aware of one thing: “You have to know how to take advantage of the moment, but also keep a cool head so as not to move on side. It remains a match, we are competitors, whatever the opponent we must have the desire and the determination to win it. It's a dream and it belongs to him and his teammates at L'Union Saint-Jean.