Mélina Facchin (in Strasbourg), edited by Gauthier Delomez 06:18, January 21, 2023

Amateur footballers from the Strasbourg club Koenigshoffen, in Regional 1, challenge SCO Angers, Ligue 1 club, this Saturday evening in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France.

For one of the two small thumbs of the competition, the challenge is high, but players and coaches are ready to play the most important match of their season.

It is a name that football fans now know: that of FC Olympique Strasbourg Koenigshoffen.

This small Alsatian team, which plays in Regional 1, is one of the small thumbs of the Coupe de France.

After beating Clermont, a Ligue 1 club, on penalties in the previous stage, the Strasbourg residents will once again face a first division team in the round of 16, SCO d'Angers, at 8:45 p.m. at the Meinau stadium (at follow on

Europe 1 Sport

).

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With five divisions apart, the pressure is high on the FCOSK06 players who are training hard, regardless of the freezing temperatures.

A "professional" training this week

This week, amateur footballers trained three evenings to be ready against Angers.

"We tried to professionalize training a little more, without changing our habits too much," explains Strasbourg coach Amar Ferdjani at the microphone of Europe 1. "We are trying to get a little more information about the opponent. We are looking to improve certain things that we could have done better against Clermont. The watchword is 'concentrated, concentrated, concentrated'", confides the coach.

In the squad, some players still find it hard to believe, like captain Mohamed Cherief.

"We find ourselves playing a 16th in the Coupe de France in a stadium (La Meinau) in which we are used to going to see Racing (Strasbourg club which plays in Ligue 1, editor's note), against a team of Ligue 1. It's like a dream come true!", admits the player.

"The predictions announce us losers, so we have nothing to lose," he continues.

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His coach engages: "If we were to win, it would be crazy! But it will be very, very complicated and we will have zero regrets at the end of this match".

The FCOSK06, like Pays de Cassel against Paris Saint-Germain on Monday, could well sell out.

More than 18,000 tickets have already been sold for Saturday evening.