Coupe de France: Dunkerque “deserved it” says its coach

The irreducible Dunkerque, even trailing 2-0 in Brest after an hour of play, managed to turn the situation around to qualify for the semi-final of the Coupe de France, a "scenario that the team deserves" , said coach Luis Castro.

"It's a scenario in which the team deserves the second half that it did," the Portuguese coach said happily after this new feat, the third qualification at an elite club, after having eliminated Auxerre and Lille at home. "In the first half, we weren't at our level. That's what I said to the players at half-time. We also made 2-3 corrections on the tactical level but I think it was more our personality, our attitude that was lacking to be Dunkerque, the team that everyone knows," he said. "I told the players that we were capable of changing the match. Even when we were 2-0 down, when I brought players on, I told them that if we scored a goal, we would get back into the match," he continued.

He praised the perseverance of his "players who never give up, players who always respect our way of playing." "Even when we are behind (...) it is a team that continues to play, that believes in our work and that makes me very proud as a coach," he added. The symbol of this victory is defender Opa Sanganté, author of the second and third goals for the North.

"Opa was injured and I thought he wasn't going to play today. But then we needed him to play 30 minutes, and he didn't have a bad game," smiled Castro. Although his team is also third in Ligue 2 and in the running for promotion to the top flight, USLD will continue to play hard on both fronts, he assured.