Coupe de France: “Nissa in the final”, the city in red and black

Waiting for 25 years to add a new title to its trophy cabinet, which was mostly stocked in the 1950s, OGC Nice can count on the support of a city that has been dressing, for a few days, in the colors of the club.

“In red and black, I will display my heart”, the words of Jeanne Mas echo the decorum put in place in the Riviera city in recent days. “Nissa in the final” (Nice in the final in nissart) the message is visible almost everywhere: banners several meters high on the front of the Chamber of Commerce, billboards, the city of Nice is dressed in its most beautiful colors as a long-awaited meeting approaches.

A real enthusiasm

On the Promenade des Anglais, a group of friends tries to sell club flags. “You have to go, it’s the final soon!” chants one of them. Under the Nice sun, during the school holidays bringing in a few tourists, onlookers sit, for some, not on the famous blue chairs but on identical ones, painted in red and black and stamped with the eagle .

Facing the Mediterranean, the Quai des Anges restaurant also provided visual support, while going up towards the castle, on Rauba Capeu, the #ILoveNice structure, always photographed as much, also took on a color . “Wherever we go in Nice, we are starting to show our colors even more than usual,” says Anthony, owner of Escalinada in Old Nice, a restaurant specializing in Nice, well known to locals. After recalling that at home, his chairs are red and black all year round, the loyal OGC Nice supporter admits: “The final is on everyone’s lips. In the restaurant, it’s the main subject of conversation. We always talk about the championship because we are still well placed but the Coupe de France is on everyone’s mind.”

At every street corner, in shops, posters are posted. “Coun” is the author. Illustrator, he was entrusted with this mission by his favorite club without expecting such success. “People are a little taken aback, surprised to see the posters everywhere. They go to the store to get some, there are already more than 40,000 parts and they are still making them again, it’s quite impressive”, s enthusiastic about this defender of the culture of Nice who declined his posters in t-shirts. “It affects everyone and even grandmothers or mothers, it gives a family image of football which is currently being lost with all the problems there are with supporters.”

After a tour of the official OGC Nice store on Place Masséna, where the club’s flags were flying around the statue of Apollo, Jean-Jacques took out a well-laden bag in his hand. “I took the Nissa jerseys in the final, flags, scarves, the full panoply, he says proudly The excitement has been there since qualifying for the half, we hear about that, there are flags everywhere, there is a real effervescence.”

25 years of scarcity

In the minds of the oldest, the last title gleaned on penalties against Guingamp one evening in 1997 at the Parc des Princes “It was the year of my 20th birthday” remembers Anthony de l’Escalinada “This year, I I will be with my son who is also in his 20s, being a little superstitious we can hope for the same outcome as for me.” Sandrine was also in Paris to see the last line of the Nice prize list written “We lived this moment with my husband, we were very young”, she says almost with tears in her eyes. “The greatest gift will be to be able to share this as a family with our children, our gender, our grandson, 25 years later.”

Emotion, “Coun” also experienced it in 2006 for the last final of “Lou Gym” in the Coupe de la Ligue against Nancy: “It was less important but we had nothing else to wear. under the tooth, our morale was down in our socks. This season, we beat Paris, Marseille, we have a great course. I know that if we win the city will be on fire. The 20,000 places reserved for the people of Nice have been sold out in no time, we really have a football city.”

Sandrine continues with confidence: “It’s hard to believe it but we’ve been there, it’s been a dream for 25 years. Until now, we may have had coaches who played less cups and more the championship, there We have a coach who plays everything so it’s huge. This year I think the cup is for us.” If the luckiest will be in Paris, others will follow the final on a giant screen placed on the Promenade du Paillon in the center of the city that can accommodate nearly 10,000 people. All ready to exult before experiencing a Sunday of celebration that for the moment, Nice fans do not prefer to talk about.