Benoit Costil: “Pierre Dreossy said to Christophe 'we're going to take your goalkeeper, on the other hand if he's not good, not only does he jump, but you jump at the same time'”

On the occasion of a Christmas dinner, the “Diner des Légendes” at Stade Rennais, the former goalkeeper of the Girondins de Bordeaux, Benoit Costilremembered his first match with the Breton club.

“When I arrived, I came from Ligue 2. Yes, not everyone was very keen for me to come, but that was normal. In fact, the club at the time had qualified for Europe, and they had two goalkeepers up front who were Stéphane Ruffier and David Ospina. On the staff, there is Christophe Revel. The club cannot pay the transfer fees of Ruffier and Ospina. I was in competition to come with other mid-table Ligue 1 level goalkeepers, and there Christophe Revel said 'rather than paying a transfer for these goalkeepers, I have a young goalkeeper who is free, who is 23 years old, whom I met in Vannes, and I think we should trust him. It is also supported by the report by Charles Biétry, with whom I am very close. So the club takes my option, knowing that I had reached an agreement with Lens. Pierre Dreossy had said to Christophe 'we are going to take your goalkeeper, on the other hand if he is not good, not only does he jump, but you jump at the same time'. Christophe carried his balls, he said 'no problem'. And so my first game was in Georgia. I conceded two goals, but we won, we went through.”

Then, he mentioned his coach at that time, Frédéric Antonetti.

“Yes, it was Fred Antonetti who had to be convinced, it wasn’t easy. But that's normal, I'm coming from Ligue 2, and although I was nominated for best goalkeeper, the cut between Sedan and a club that plays in Europe… The coach wants guarantees, and he has a lot more with Ospina or Ruffier than with Costil. In training, I work… I remember a scene during training, the coach sees that Steph Ruffier is signing for Saint-Etienne, it makes the front page of L'Equipe. We're at the table, having breakfast, and Fred Antonetti says 'ah I told you so, I told you so' (laughs). I feel a little bad… In fact, what had happened was that we had done some training, the players had seen me, and we had the training evening (laughs). You had to be accepted like that, by learning to know yourself […] Fred Antonetti, his approach, it was understandable… And then, later, he was the first to recognize the quality of my matches, etc… He had nothing against me. He was clean.”

Transcription Girondins4Ever