OGC Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivère spoke to the press after Les Aiglons qualified for the Coupe de France round of 32 with a penalty shootout win over Corte (1-1, 5-3 on pens.).

President, what will you take away from this round of 64 win? 
First of all, I would like to thank Corte football club, the directors and everyone that works at the club who were such remarkable hosts and gave us such a warm welcome. I hope that it’s not too serious for their injured player; it’s always a shame to see a player leave the field in those circumstances. I went into their changing room to congratulate them on their performance and to tell them that it was cruel to be eliminated from the Coupe de France like that. Perhaps this match will help them improve their league performances, because they need to lift. But I would like to reiterate that they were fabulous hosts. That’s important. Their goalkeeper told me that the club wanted it to be a family friendly celebration of football. It went very well, we are very happy. For us, we will remember the qualification. Now we turn attentions to preparing for 2025. We are at the midway point of the season and we hope to get our injured players back soon and we will try to go as far as possible in the Coupe de France.

Does this match against Corte sum up your first half of the season? 
Yes. At one point I said to myself: ‘It’s impossible to be so unlucky.’ All our shots were straight at the goalkeeper, we weren’t clinical enough. But we should be putting this result beyond doubt much earlier. We are aiming for a great finish to the season because we have the potential to do something great in both Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France.

The last time Le Gym won on penalties at the Stade Furiani in the Coupe de France, they went on to lift the trophy…
I know. I remember. They told me the same thing at Cholet and we almost went all the way.

A part from in the UEFA Europa League, is the club on track to reach is objectives at the midway point of the season?
Obviously the Europa League has been a disappointment. We had everything we needed to qualify for the next round. Once again, we have made mistakes that cost us, but even so, I think with a full strength squad, we clearly had the potential to reach the next round and even do better in Ligue 1. We are currently sixth in the league, and are still in touch, and I’m confident for the second half of the campaign.

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