A clear win in the decisive match gave Toulouse the title. (AFP)
Toulouse was proclaimed champion of the French Cup with a 5-1 win over defending champions Nantes this Saturday in the final at the Stade de France.
The controversial pension reform, which has been agitating the political and social climate in France for weeks, threatened to be invited to this sporting event, but in the end football took center stage, in a match that hardly had a history due to the great superiority since the beginning of Toulousewhich at half-time was already leading 4-0, with both doublets of Logan Coast and Thijs Dallinga.
“It is an emblematic competition in this country and we are proud of this! We have achieved it, we have made history for the club”, celebrated Logan Costa in statements to beIN Sports.
Thanks to his victory, Toulouse fans were able to celebrate his first title in 66 years, after the success in the 1957 French Cup, which only the most veteran remember. This title is also the subject of some controversy since the club considers it its own, while the French Football Federation (FFF) officially attributes it to another “Toulouse FC”, a club that disappeared in 1967 before being refounded in 1970.
Lifting the ‘Coupe’ trophy also means for Toulouse, currently twelfth in the French league, an added prize: a ticket to play the next Europa League.
However, this possibility should still be confirmed due to the fact that it shares the same owners as AC Milan and the UEFA regulation, in its article 5 on the “timeshare of clubs”, establishes that two clubs owned by the same shareholder cannot can participate at the same time in European competitions. If there could only be one, AC Milan would have priority according to the continental organization’s criteria.
The Nantes, champion of the past French Cupcould not revalidate his crown and now he will have to focus his efforts on staying in Ligue 1, where he is sixteenth, with the same points as the first team in the relegation zone, Brest (17th), which he visits on Wednesday at the close of matchday 33.
smooth
In this Saturday’s game, Toulouse left everything on track from the start, with a double header from Cape Verdean international Logan Costa (minutes 4 and 10), first from a corner kick launched by Branco Van den Boomen and then in the small area assisted by Stijn Spierings.
Far from speculating on that advantage, Toulouse remained hungry and the third came on minute 23, when the Chilean Gabriel Suazo gave the decisive pass to Thijs Dallinga, who in a face-to-face with the rival goalkeeper raised the just to beat him.
Dallinga scored again on 31′, pushing with pleasure after finding a ball parried by goalkeeper Alban Lafont after a first attempt by Farès Chaibi.
In the second half, Nantes cut short on 75′ with a penalty converted by Ludovic Blasbut Toulouse had the last word by signing the final 5-1, with a shot from the edge of the box Zakaria Abouhlal in 79 ‘.
Contrary to what is usual and by decision of the prefecture given the risk of an invasion of the field of play, it was decided that the trophies should be handed out in the stands and not in the center of the field of play.
The President of France Emmanuel Macron He presided over the box of authorities and had already gone down to the dressing room corridors of the Stade de France to greet the teams. In previous years, the President of the Republic used to perform this formal greeting on the lawn.
Several unions had distributed red cards and whistles to spectators around the stadium to help them show their opposition to the pension reform.
“The Pink City (Toulouse) is celebrating! Congratulations to the entire Toulouse FC team for this victory in the French Cup,” Macron wrote in Twitter. “Mythical,” he added.
