The coach of the Paris Saint-Germain U19 team Zoumana Camara spoke about the final of the U19 National Championship that his team are playing this Sunday, June 16, 2024 against AJ Auxerre in Brive.
Coach, how is the team feeling before playing the most important game of the season?
“The team is ready, at this time of the season the players are ready physically and tactically. We have well-established game principles and they know them. At the end of the season, we have to try to regain physical and mental freshness, because there are the baccalaureate exams for some, so that’s what we based our work on this week. There are always a few small readjustments to be made in relation to the opponent in order to get to know them, then manage situations based on their strong points and adjust a few small details in relation to our playing principles with the objective of putting them in trouble. »
Are the players looking forward to it?
“Yes, but the challenge is to channel all this, but the excitement built little by little. The most important thing for players is to focus on the match at the right time, and to give everything on the pitch on the big day. My players are on time, focused and invested. It’s not easy at the end of the season, we have been very demanding of them on the academic and sporting level, we feel that there is mental and nervous fatigue. They know how to manage it well and I think it will go well. »
As a coach it’s great progress, two years ago you played in a semi-final, last year you were in the final like this year, I imagine there is a lot of pride?
“Indeed, it is a pride to work in the club in which I evolved as a player, I became an assistant and I have the chance to be a training coach. For me it is a big responsibility, but a responsibility that I assume with great pleasure. We have talented young Parisians, they are the future of the club and Paris Saint-Germain is relying more and more on these young people, we have seen some of them rise over the last 3 years and I am very thrilled. »
Is winning the championship a crucial step in the formation of Titis?
“The results are a bit of a finality, obviously the objective is not to win titles but to try to train as many players as possible so that they can reach the professional level. After having done that, the results of the play-offs are like a cherry on the cake, it’s always good for young people to be confronted with this kind of meeting, in relation to the intensity, the desire for the result and the desire to go for a title. This is the closest thing to the professional world. »
