Seeing the images of jubilation on the Place du Capitole this Sunday, with some 18,000 supporters in ecstasy, we imagine that the Lensois have sketched a big smile. In the fight for second place in Ligue 1, the Sang et Or will travel to the Stadium on Tuesday evening, on the lawn of a TFC already saved. But especially on the ground of a club which is not about to come down from the little cloud on which it climbed on Saturday in Saint-Denis, with the second victory in the Coupe de France in its history, 66 years after the first, at the end of a demonstration against Nantes (5-1).
“Yes, it happens early, but we will do the best we can, understates defender Anthony Rouault, a pure product of the Southwest (he is from Lot-et-Garonnais) within a mosaic of 19 nationalities melted into a collective of unfailing solidarity. But you have to take advantage of moments like this. Today [dimanche], we will still savor. “That” is this reception in front of a very large hundred “happy few” (family, journalists, politicians, representatives of 30 Toulouse clubs, various personalities) in the magnificent Salle des Illustres at the town hall, whose murals retrace the history of the city.
But “that” is above all the crowd of fans gathered in front of the august building, who came to shout once again a love that has only grown since the arrival of the American investment fund RedBird and President Damien Comolli at the helm. , in the summer of 2020. A love that their favorites have returned to them a hundredfold by filling a trophy cabinet that has been a little less empty since this weekend.
The changing weather, with a quarter of an hour of downpour between two windows of soft spring sky, and the half-hour delay of the players’ bus, disembarking at 6.30 p.m. instead of 6 p.m., had no chance of showering the enthusiasm of the supporters. Too many, not all of them could be authorized to cross the security checks posted in the small adjacent streets.
“The supporters will be more and more numerous”
“I’m not even surprised anymore,” smiled Belgian captain Brecht Dejaegere. I remember that for the first match in Ligue 2 [défaite contre Dunkerque, le 22 août 2020, 0-1], there were 4,000 people. There the Capitol is full and yesterday [samedi, au Stade de France], they were 30,000. »
“With what we have achieved, more and more supporters will come to support us, Rouault saliva. It looks grand. » Hearing the crowd howl their pleasure and the Se Canto, the Occitan anthem, during the presentation of the trophy on the balcony of the town hall was also magnificent. And dizzying too, when you think of the path made by a club back from the dead in three short years, after its fall in Ligue 2 after an interminable agony.
The heroes don’t look so tired, after a night that was certainly festive but obviously without huge excesses (on the players’ side anyway), on the side of Montparnasse. Above all, they are not satisfied. “Trophies, I can tell you that there will be others”, announces Damien Comolli, with the same faith as when he promises that his club will participate in the Europa League, even if the fact that the TFC and the ‘AC Milan share the same shareholder can wince UEFA.
Little slip
By definition, euphoria is contagious. It overflowed into the speech of Jean-Luc Moudenc, the mayor of the city: “The TFC offered France the Toulouse surprise, dropped the chosen one, before igniting outright. You are now champions of France, we have been waiting for this for two thirds of a century. “For the Ligue 1 title, we will still have to wait. But this Coupe de France already exceeds the expectations of supporters more accustomed to drinking piquette than champagne over the years, such as the essential Didier Pitorre.
“I was convinced that we were going to win, but not on a score like that, admits the fifty-year-old, collector and official archivist of the club. I thought we were going to suffer a lot more, with an unbreathable scenario like during the maintenance match in Angers with Pascal Dupraz (2-3 on May 14, 2016). This is my Annapurna! Finally, we will rather say that it is my Pic du Midi, since I am Occitan. “Finally, if we were Lensois and were preparing to challenge a TFC on Tuesday who will still and always want to commune with a Stadium and its 30,000 purple souls, we would not be so reassured.