A trip around the world for a cup game

Turquoise waters, palm-fringed white sandy beaches and luxurious resorts. This is what most people think of when they think of French Polynesia. Understandable, after all, the archipelago in the South Seas is one of the most expensive and exclusive travel destinations in the world. The French third division club AF Rodez had nothing to do with any of this. Instead it was about football.

Teams from Guadeloupe and New Caledonia in the French Cup

The French Cup is like a relay race. The little ones start, the big ones finish. Teams like Paris Saint Germain or Olympique Lyon intervene late - for good reason. The regulations state that teams that are outside France but on French territory are also allowed to play. And there are quite a few, because a lot of island states that are far outside of Europe belong to France.

Teams from Guadeloupe, New Caledonia and Guyana play in the French Cup. In 1988, Geldar Kourou, a team from Guyana, even made it to the final of XNUMX. Most of the time these teams stay among themselves, but this season a team from Europe had to travel to Oceania.

A third division team has to go to Tahiti

The Campionnat National is the third league in France. There, AF Rodez, a team from the south of France, is on the verge of making it through to the second division. Rodez, just called “Le RAF” in France, is a traditional club. Founded in 1929, the red and yellow never made it to the top. At the end of the 1980s, Rodez was second class for a few seasons.

Now the club suddenly became famous. But not because he leads the third division in France. The reason was a cup game for which the third division team had to travel 15.000 kilometers. The opponent in the seventh round of the “Coupe de France” came from Tahiti.

A 31 hour journey for 90 minutes of football

Tahiti is the largest island of French Polynesia and AS Tefana is its current football champion. Tefana has won the championship three times so far and the island footballers even made it to the final of the Oceania Champions League in 2012. The next highlight followed in November. A cup game against a team from France.

Rodez was on the road for 31 hours until the third division team arrived in Tahiti. 90 minutes of football followed, then the team headed back. At least the trip, which was paid for by the French association, was worth it. Rodez won against Tefana 3-0 and moved into the next round of the cup. All's well that ends well.

SN/cst

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

A trip around the world for a cup game

15.000 kilometers – or the equivalent of 31 hours – for a cup game. What sounds like a joke was reality for the French club AF Rodez. How did that happen?

Suggestions

Comments (0)