“It’s a real pride”: Futsal coach Marguerittois speaks before the European Cup

Le Futsal Marguerittois, emmené par Christophe Cariat (à droite), espère briller lors des prochaines semaines sur la scène européenne. Club

Christophe Cariat and Futsal Marguerittois (Gard) will head to Europe in the coming weeks.

Christophe Cariat, your players will participate, from April 22 to 28, in the FEF Champions League in Turkey. Where are you in preparing for this big meeting ?

This is not necessarily obvious, in the sense that we have some problems with the championship, due to the lack of teams linked to the somewhat complicated situation between the FFF and the AFF. Maybe we will miss a little competition, but we still managed to train well and play a few friendly matches. We will do everything to be in the best possible position during the competition.

You were talking about a sometimes difficult situation between the French Futsal Association (AFF) and the French Football Federation (FFF). What about today??

You should know that the AFF is the oldest specific futsal federation in France. It was only then that the FFF, through diversified football, immersed itself and was able to develop in the discipline. Which she has done very well in recent years. Unfortunately, this was somewhat to the detriment of our small federation. Today, we are a bit like the Gauls who try to resist with our little means. But we do the best we can, and that hasn't stopped us from being the first to participate in the Worlds.

What does this European Cup represent in your eyes?

This is the pinnacle for our club and for our girls. Being able to compete against teams from other nations is exceptional. Especially since as title holders, we are ambitious and we want to stay at the top. I won't hide the fact that there is a little bit of pressure, the girls will be expected and will surely have to do even more than last year to win again. But it’s also a great reward for all the work done in recent years.

You won the 2023 edition. What will be the keys to getting a new title?

Solidarity. This is what made us win last year. We may not have had the best individuals, but we certainly had the best collective. All the girls fought for the team and showed great mental resources. If we maintain this cohesion and put as much self-sacrifice into what we do, we will have a game to play.

Beyond sport, what do these adventures bring you?

Very strong moments. When I started five years ago, I never would have suspected that we would be where we are today. So of course, the management is very different from what I had experienced with the boys, but it is just as interesting. We must be very attentive and not hesitate to explain why we are doing this or that exercise. It’s a truly enriching experience. In any case, what we are experiencing with this group are moments that I will not forget and which are among my fondest memories as a player and coach. When we won, thousands of things raced through our heads, as if this European title was the culmination of all our efforts. But that doesn't mean that the adventure is over. Once we came back down to earth, we immediately decided to continue and go even further. Once we have tasted such emotions, we inevitably want to experience them again.

After all these years, are you proud of what you have accomplished so far ?

Yes, of course. Making our little village shine at European level is huge. I simply regret that we were not able to take advantage of this feat to work in better conditions and benefit from higher subsidies. We continue to train in our small room, without having access to decent slots in the big room. Today, we are still very far from other sports. But we will continue to move forward and wear our colors proudly. Futsal Marguerittois is the first club to have qualified its two men's and women's teams for the European Cup. It’s a real pride that we can’t take away.

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