This 4 January 2020 French-language video is about the unexpected 2-1 victory by the Reunion island amateur footballers of Jeunesse Sportive Saint-Pierroise in their away match against the French professional team of Niort.
Translated from Dutch NOS TV:
You have football cup tournament fairy tales and football cup tournament fairy tales. Far in the Indian Ocean lies the beautiful island of Reunion east of Madagascar. And there is a club called Jeunesse Sportive Saint-Pierroise, which has sensationally reached the sixteenth finals of the Coupe de France.
The largest and most important cup tournament in France is open to all clubs affiliated with the Football Association, including those from overseas. Then you talk about more than seven and a half thousand participating teams, which are initially sorted by region. …
The amateurs of Saint-Pierroise won 2-1 on Saturday against second divisionist Niort, after a journey of more than nine thousand kilometers. Nearly a hundred fans traveled with the team. …
But the most famous football player on the island is without a doubt playmaker and 38-time [French national team] international Dimitri Payet, now a teammate of [Dutch player] Kevin Strootman at Olympique de Marseille.
The performance of the overseas team Saint-Pierroise is not yet unique. In 1989, a French Guiana club managed to reach the last 32 in the cup. At the time, Le Geldar was stopped by FC Nantes of the later world champions Didier Deschamps and Marcel Desailly.
Saint-Pierroise will hear on Monday evening just after 8.15 pm who the opponents will be in the next round. It might be Bordeaux or Strootman and Payet’s Olympique Marseille – that would be something.
This 4 January 2020 French-language video shows Reunion football fans watching the game on TV and rejoicing about the victory.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 