Second cup victory after 66 years
Unions in France failed in their bid to use the Coupe de France final to protest against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms. When FC Toulouse beat FC Nantes 5-1 (4-0) in the second half at the Stade de France, at an agreed time on Saturday evening, only a few whistles from the spectators could be heard, some of whom also received red cards . against the reform showed.
Promoted from Ligue 1 Toulouse outclassed the defending champion in the first half hour. Logan Costa (4th/10th minute) and Thijs Dallinga (23rd/31st) each scored twice. In the second half, Ludovic Blas (75th) was able to close the gap, but a few minutes later Zakaria Aboukhlal (79th) scored to make it 5-1. This is the second cup victory for Toulouse, the team won the first in 1957.
In view of the announced protests, there was initially speculation as to whether Macron would come to the final as usual. The president followed the final from the stands with his wife Brigitte, as usual, but did not go onto the pitch for security reasons. Before kick-off, he greeted the players as they made their way to the pitch. He then presented the trophy to the jubilant Toulouse pros in the stands.
There had been a standoff over the union protest. The police headquarters initially prohibited actions near the Stade de France. The Paris administrative court lifted this ban a few hours before kick-off. Trade unionists came to the stadium to distribute 30,000 symbolic red cards against raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 and 10,000 whistles to spectators. However, under (Site notre blog d’information) Association rules it is forbidden to bring whistles into the stadium. Numerous whistles and red cards were confiscated by the stewards at the entrance.
Police deployed 3,000 security guards around the game, 1,000 more than at the cup final last year. Drones should also be used. In the end, however, there were only 21 arrests around the game.
Welcome to the Pink City where dreams come true,
Welcome to Occitania, where we always come back,Welcome to TeFéCé, 2023 #StillStanding pic.twitter.com/D7Ak845o6a
— Toulouse FC (@ToulouseFC) April 29, 2023
To the homepage