Football Saints to renew rivalry in Airtel Cup final It has been long since a match between St Michel and St Louis has drawn much attention, but today’s Airtel Cup final is shaping up to renew the once fiercely contested rivalry between these two local |24 September 2016

Football - Saints to renew rivalry in Airtel Cup final

It has been long since a match between St Michel and St Louis has drawn much attention, but today’s Airtel Cup final is shaping up to renew the once fiercely contested rivalry between these two local giants of the game in Seychelles.

St Michel have consistently remained one of the top sides on the local football scene, but in contrast St Louis have known much misfortune and changes in recent years where they at one point joined forces with another former top side Sunshine to form St Louis Suns United, before recently re-taking the St Louis name under new management.

This year has seen St Louis playing some great football, especially under the leadership of former St Michel and Seychelles central defender Nigel Freminot, who has helped to change the fortunes of the club.

Before them, however, are a team who have constantly remained at the top of the Seychelles footballing pyramid, but are also in somewhat of a transition period since former midfielder Roddy Victor took over the head coaching duties from Ralph Jean-Louis.

It was a slow start to the season for St Michel, but winning the Airtel Cup will surely serve as a big confidence boost as the team will look to kick on in their challenge for the league title.

St Michel booked their place in the Airtel Cup final after claiming an 8-3 aggregate win (5-0 in first leg and 3-3 in second leg) over Anse Reunion and will be hoping to finally regain the Airtel Cup title after losing to La Passe in the previous two finals.

St Michel manager Andrew Jean-Louis had this to say when contacted by Sports NATION: “I know a lot of people are looking forward to this match and we are conscious of the threat St Louis pose, so we will have to be at our best to win this match.”

He added that St Louis have always been a good side, despite being inconsistent in recent seasons, but the fact that they are in the final means they are a strong side and as usual they will bring out the best of his side.

St Michel will in fact be without three key players – Ghanaian Emanuel and Basil Bertin (injury), as well as Malagasy defender Leonard, who is suspended after being sent off in the second leg semifinal against Anse Reunion.

“We have three key players out for the match, but we have enough depth in our squad to be able to cope with their absence,” added Jean-Louis.

St Louis on the other hand, squeezed past outgoing champions La Passe 2-1 on aggregate (2-0 in first leg and 0-1 in second leg) and will be hoping to cap off their revival with a first ever Airtel Cup final win this afternoon.

Coach Freminot said: “We are feeling quite positive about our chances despite a few injuries and are confident that the players who step in can do a good job.”

Defenders Jude Nancy and Damien Maria are both expected to miss out on the final.

“Our aim is to win as it would mean a lot to my players,” said coach Freminot, before adding: “I spoke to them and most of them have never won any silverware, so winning will be a very amazing feeling for them.”

Having previously coached Tigers, coach Freminot took over at St Louis earlier this season and although some people doubted his ability to take the team forward, the former St Michel captain said support from the St Louis management and his family was enough to encourage him and he is happy to have been able to prove his doubters wrong.

Some interesting facts about this final are that both coaches are former St Michel captains and they are both in their very first season coaching their club and the Airtel Cup will be the first piece of silverware for either coach.

Both teams are asking their supporters to be at their best behaviour as it is important to Seychelles football that supporters respect each other and the decisions taken by the referee on the pitch to avoid any unsavoury incidents.

St Michel manager Jean-Louis said a lot of young children come to see football matches with their parents and swearing and bad behaviour affect these young children and have played a major part in the massive reduction of football spectators in recent years.

The match begins at 4.30pm at Stad Linite.

The Airtel Cup began in 2003 when La Passe became the first ever winners and since then have won the competition a further two times (2014 and 2015). St Michel have won the most Airtel Cup titles with a total of six (2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013), while Red Star (2005 and 2006), Anse Reunion (2007) and Côte d’Or (2012) are the other teams to have won the tournament.

As for St Louis, their last cup win was in the 2010 Land Marine Cup, where they defeated La Passe 1-0 after extra-time with a goal from Fabien Cadeau.

They have also been in the Airtel Cup final twice, losing on both occasions – 0-1 to Anse Reunion in 2007 and 1-2 to St Michel in 2009.

S. N.