Football: Alès' superb run qualifies for the last 16 of the Coupe Gambardella, Nîmes aims for the feat against OGC Nice

The joy of the Alésiens victorious in Ardèche and qualified for the 16th finals MIDI LIBRE

Winner in Aubenas of the Petit Poucet Sud Ardèche (1-0) in front of 1900 spectators (!), the OAC is in the 16th finals of the Coupe Gambardella. Nîmes Olympique dreams of joining Alès, but it will take a feat to take out OGC Nice, Sunday January 12 at 2:30 p.m. 

“We are in the last 16 of the Coupe Gambardella, it's huge! As in every Cup, we get through the first round, then another, then we get into the game. We qualified in front of 1900 spectators, there were two full stands, the boys will remember it for a long time. With ten men at the end of the match, they were extraordinary!”

Mehdi Sidane, the coach of the OAC U18s, is a happy coach. Alès, a resident of Regional 1, qualified this Saturday, January 11 in Aubenas, at the home of Petit Poucet Sud Ardèche (Departmental), thanks to a single, magnificent goal from the home scorer Naser Eddine Fakhar (19th minute).

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“We controlled the first half, we were well positioned, Aubenas hardly shot on goal. Then, after the sending off, on a very complicated pitch, they pushed, they threw balls into our area, but my goalkeeper (Soen Barbu) ultimately didn't have much to do…”

Fakhar scorer, Bousquel sent off

It was Théo Bousquel who was sent off (64th minute), for two yellow cards in the same minute, the first for a foul, the second for words after being provoked by an Ardèche player. No consequences in the end.

6-0 at Montpellier UC, 3-1 at Conques, 5-0 at Clermont L'Hérault (in a match to be replayed, the first having been stopped due to a storm), 3-2 at Blagnac, 1-1 and 7 penalty shootouts to 6 against Balma (2nd in the other group of R1 Occitanie), happy exempt from the 1st national round, the OAC continues its superb adventure.

NO for the exploit

This Sunday, January 12 at 2:30 p.m. on the Bastide synthetic pitch, the U18s of Nîmes Olympique (3rd in Regional 1) will host the Nationals of OGC Nice, in the top 5 of their group in both U19 and U17. Young pros could even be lined up on the Côte d'Azur side. It would therefore be an achievement for Yannick Bileck's players to join OAC in the round of 16… In any case, they will have nothing to lose!

The Alésiens dream of OM

“Now, we hope to host a big team in the round of 16, because we have travelled a lot. Our preference ? OM! It is possible because the draw is still geographical this round”, confides Sidane. Verdict next Thursday, January 16th, during the draw for the round of 16, which will take place on the weekend of February 1st and 2nd.

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