FC Nantes coach Antoine Kombouaré said at a press conference on Friday that he was “hungry for victory” before Saturday’s final in the Coupe de France against Toulouse FC because it “will give the energy necessary to seek maintenance” in the League. 1.
Did you manage to put this final on hold despite the fight to maintain you in L1?
“I recognize that at the beginning of the week it was still complicated. But strangely I was able to switch on Tuesday. And the more I advance towards the final, the more I want to see my team win tomorrow. We are hungry for victory. I am convinced that a won final will give us the necessary energy to go for the maintenance. I switched because we don’t have a final every year. (…) It is something immense and big”.
What do you think of this team from Toulouse, promoted this season? Are you favorites?
“I had the feeling to see on the images a team which goes forward, which offers a good spectacle. It’s up to us to take inspiration from Toulouse, they really are a high-performance team. It’s clear that they have peace of mind, they can approach the final 100%, for us, it’s more complicated but we have no excuses to find. Tomorrow this final is so important for us and for the club. When you do the course that you do in the championship… It’s 50-50. Toulouse is on a good dynamic, we are in great difficulty. But tomorrow it is played on a match. At the end of the championship Toulouse will be well ahead of us, but tomorrow is the Coupe de France and it’s an opportunity to offer a 5th Coupe de France to FC Nantes. We can’t miss it.”
Is this final tougher than the one we won against Nice last year?
“I don’t ask myself these kinds of questions, I know it’s going to be hard. Obviously different because there is somewhere in our head the feeling of not doing the job in the league. It will be more complicated on Wednesday against Brest (in L1) if it’s another result tomorrow. I take advantage, knowing that I am preparing for all eventualities because there are matches behind.