Here we go again. The team from Nice is heading to Valenciennes (6 p.m.) for the Round of 64 in the French Cup. After an overall disappointing end of the year, the Aiglons are counting on this first match of 2015 to restart the red and black machine and regain confidence.
A cup to start the year. No, it’s not a champagne cup, maybe after the match, but rather the French Cup. With foie gras and lobster digested, OGC Nice players would be well advised to qualify to make good on the resolutions taken during New Year’s Eve. The draw against Saint-Etienne (0-0) and the loss to Lens (2-1) have dampened the supporters’ ambitions and worried the experts. Nothing better than a Round of 64 in the French Cup to kick off 2015 with a win before hosting Lorient in Ligue 1 (Saturday, January 10, at 8 p.m.).
“It did us good to take a break, we enjoyed it before getting back into the swing of things. It’s an important match to start a positive momentum and begin this second half of the season well,” says captain Didier Digard, on Friday in a meeting with the press.
The team from Nice will be almost complete on the plane heading north. Only missing will be the “South Americans” who returned late: Dario Cvitanich, who came back this Friday, and Carlos Eduardo, back since Thursday morning. Eliminated in the round of 16 by Monaco (1-0 a.e.t.) last year, already out by Metz in the League Cup (3-3 a.e.t., 2-3 on penalties), this cup is the last chance to take the supporters to the Stade de France next May.
Relegated last season to Ligue 2, Valenciennes had a turbulent start with a last place in mid-September. Battered, the Northerners have since bounced back and are now in 10th place. Bernard Casoni’s squad is one of the most well-equipped with Adama Coulibaly (ex-Lens and Auxerre), Enza-Yamissi, Sigamary Diarra (ex-Lorient), and Anthony Le Tallec. Nice will face Fabrice Abriel on the opposing side, who wore the Gym jersey for three seasons.
“It’s a match to be taken seriously against a team that plays good football. We need to regain confidence and find our bearings to follow up well with the championship the next week,” explains Frédéric Gioria, assistant to Claude Puel, at the press briefing.
In the cold and on a consistently tricky field, like in Amiens during the 2-1 loss against Lens, Nice will need to show patience and efficiency. We have to go back to the 2009-2010 French Cup to see OGC Nice eliminated in the Round of 64, it was in Plabennec (2-1), a National (3rd tier) club. Since then, the Aiglons have had four consecutive qualifications in this round where Ligue 1 teams enter. The best performance in the last ten years remains a semi-final in 2010-2011 (a 2-0 loss against Lille). It’s up to the Aiglons to play.
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