Amateurs Quevilly shocked Ligue 1 outfit Rennes 2-1 on Wednesday to reach the French Cup final for the second time in their history but first since 1927

"/> Amateurs Quevilly shocked Ligue 1 outfit Rennes 2-1 on Wednesday to reach the French Cup final for the second time in their history but first since 1927

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RENNES

Tiny team stuns league to reach Cup final

Amateurs Quevilly shocked Ligue 1 outfit Rennes 2-1 on Wednesday to reach the French Cup final for the second time in their history but first since 1927

Published: 12 April 2012 08:09 CEST

Quevilly – the first amateur club since Amiens in 2001 to reach the final – will play Lyon at the Stade de France on April 28th.

The third-tier minnows – who put Marseille out in the previous round – had looked dead and buried after Julien Feret put their Brittany rivals ahead after just eight minutes in Caen.

But the Normans never gave up with substitute Karim Herouat stepping up shortly after coming on to grab the equaliser after 64 minutes with Anthony Laup sealing an unlikely victory four minutes into injury time.

It was the second time the Normandy club have eliminated Rennes after also cutting down the Ligue 1 side in the last 16 in 2010.

“It was an incredible evening and the perfect scenario, scoring in the final minutes of the game,” said Quevilley coach Regis Brouard.

“The first half was complicated, we were too timid, we lacked risk-taking.

“But after the break we managed to do some crazy things and push forward.

“We had very little left and on a final deep ball, despite the fatigue and emotion Laup managed to win his duel.

“It’s the charm of the French Cup.”

Rennes coach Frederic Antonetti was scathing about this team’s performance.

“I can’t defend the undefendable, I knew that we lacked character and that was proven,” he said. “We were favourites but we didn’t know how to approach the match psychologically.

“It’s a big personal disappointment.”

Lyon booked their berth on Tuesday by beating Gazelec Ajaccio 4-0 in Corsica.

Gazelec – the third division high-fliers who had previously knocked out Ligue 1 clubs Toulouse and Montpellier – were handicapped by the early sending-off of Anthony Colinet in a match played at the home of their top-flight neighbours AC Ajaccio.

However, Alexandre Lacazette gave OL the lead just before the hour, and skipper Lisandro Lopez doubled their advantage soon after.

Substitute Clement Grenier scored within seconds of coming on before Bafetimbi Gomis netted his 23rd goal of the season to wrap up the win.

Lyon can now look forward to a second trip to the Stade de France – they also have a League Cup final against Marseille to prepare for on Saturday.

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WEATHER

IN PICTURES: How floods and a bin strike left Marseille submerged in waste

Torrential rain hit the city of Marseille in the south of France on Sunday and Monday, just days after local waste collectors ended a week-long strike, leading to fears of "catastrophic" waste making its way to the ocean.

Published: 5 October 2021 13:00 CEST
IN PICTURES: How floods and a bin strike left Marseille submerged in waste
A man stands on a beach covered with cans following heavy rains and a strike of waste collectors in Marseille on October 5th. Photo: Nicolas TUCAT / AFP.

Marseille is located in the Bouches-du-Rhône département, which Météo France placed on red alert for heavy rain and flooding on Monday. Schools in the area shut and people were warned not to leave their homes as two months’ worth of rain fell in a single day in the Mediterranean city, after heavy rains had already caused flooding on Sunday night.

The situation was compounded by the fact that uncollected garbage was blocking storm drains in certain parts of the city – drains which would normally be cleared ahead of heavy rain – and making it more difficult for emergency services to intervene.

The city’s waste collectors had begun clearing the streets on Saturday after an agreement between unions and local authorities put an end to an eight-day strike over an increase to working hours.

But rain over the weekend made the monumental job even more difficult, and the result was that “rivers of rubbish” flowed through the city’s streets on Monday.

“Rubbish is everywhere. It’s a catastrophe,” biologist Isabelle Poitou, director of the MerTerre association, told AFP. “We’re expecting a strong mistral wind which will push the rubbish, which is currently making its way towards the sea, onto the beaches.”

“It’s vital to come and clear the rubbish from the beaches on Tuesday or Wednesday,” she added. “We need to act before the rubbish gets scattered in the sea at the first gust of wind.”

A woman collects waste on a beach after heavy rains and following a strike of waste collectors in Marseille.

A woman collects waste on a beach after heavy rains and following a strike of waste collectors in Marseille. Photo: Christophe SIMON / AFP.

The video below tweeted by BFMTV journalist Cédric Faiche shows the state of a beach in Marseille early on Tuesday morning. “It’s been cleaned several times but cans and different types of plastic continue to arrive…” Faiche wrote.

However, Faiche told BFM there are similar scenes every time there is heavy rain in Marseille, even if the strike has made the situation even worse.

Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin shared a video of the “sad scene” captured in Marseille on Sunday night. “Discussions between trade unions and the city must not make us forget what really matters: we are all responsible for our seas and our oceans!” she said.

“It’s unacceptable,” Christine Juste, deputy mayor in charge of the environment in Marseille told BFM on Tuesday, criticising the “lack of reactivity” in collecting leftover rubbish following the end of the strike on Friday.

“Why wait so long? In the 6th arrondissement, there has been no collection since the announcement that the strike was over,” she said.

IN PICTURES: See how the deluge has left parts of France’s Mediterranean coast submerged

The Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis intercommunal structure, rather than city hall, is in charge of rubbish collection in Marseille.

On Monday morning, the Metropolis dispatched 650 workers to clear away as much waste as possible ahead of the heaviest rainfall which was forecast for the afternoon.

On Monday evening, Marseille’s Mayor Benoît Payan told franceinfo that 3,000 tonnes of garbage were still yet to be collected in the city. “I asked the Prime Minister this evening to class the zone as a natural disaster,” he added.

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