EA Guingamp – FC Sochaux
Tuesday (8:45 p.m.), Roudourou Stadium
His face is now familiar to all soccer players. His madness, too. This sympathetic madness embodied so well by Yoann Riou, who in a few years has become one of the most famous Guingampais in France. So inevitably, now that the journalist is also surveying the Ligue 2 grounds on behalf of La Chaîne L’Équipe , we could not miss an appointment before Sochaux’s trip to the Côtes-d’Armor. A department which saw the birth of Yoann Riou in Paimpol, about thirty kilometers from the Roudourou stadium, or the Yves-Jaguin stadium, where En Avant played during his childhood.
“I enjoy following this Ligue 2. It’s human and authentic football that looks like me. We come across players with atypical career paths, who do not roll on gold, ”enthuses Yoann Riou, who has just returned from Valenciennes. If he comments on the matches in the cabin from Paris, he imposes a trip during the week to the clubs that his channel will broadcast… on his days off! “It’s the craziest Ligue 2 in history, there are seven or eight clubs that can play the climb,” he continues. Among these contenders for the rise, there is Guingamp, his heart club where he even played two seasons between 15 and 17 years old, which is returning to a good level after a few galleys.
“Our peasant identity, I care about it”
“There is a soul in this team”, appreciates the journalist, under the spell of coach Stéphane Dumont. “What he does is very strong. He lost M’Changama and Pierrot and didn’t try to cut and paste. He preferred to change the scheme by replacing Livolant closer to the attacker. And Livolant is having an exceptional start to the season”. But the essential is elsewhere for this Guingampais of the first hour. “Whether we win or lose, the most important thing is that Guingamp remains the mark of sympathy. We must never take ourselves for another. Our peasant identity, I care about it”.
We could listen to him for hours talking to us about the EAG French Cup finals, his trip to kyiv in the Europa League in 2015, or defender Pierre Lemonnier whose parents are farmers. But we also wanted to hear his opinion on FC Sochaux, which he has not yet had the opportunity to comment on this season. “You always grow up with an imagination. Me, my childhood imagination is the lawn of Bonal”, he laughs, before talking about his fascination for Sylvester Takac and his memories of a report in the Doubs, for France Football, between the two UEFA Cup games against Inter Milan.
“This football must not disappear”
“Football allowed Sochaux and Guingamp to play in the European Cup against Inter Milan. In fact, these two clubs are travel agencies and in addition we do not pay! We lead a nabob life without a penny in our pocket thanks to Sochaux and Guingamp, ”yoann Riou says in a big burst of laughter, with one of his flights of which he has the secret. “Guingamp is the peasant spirit. Sochaux is the importance of the working world. On both sides, hard work and the true values of life. You are playing for something other than a ball or a ranking. This football must not disappear, ”he pleads before hanging up.
Like what, even without being Franche-Comté, we can understand everything about the FCSM, its history and its social role…
