Masson - Daramola, Esdras, Fatier, Charlier - Goprou (Korogo, 90'), Morissaint, Le Roux, Diakité (Grondin, 90') - Djoubri (Mokhtar Jamai, 57'), Basil
On Sunday, our young Parisian players had a date with history. Having qualified for the final of the inaugural U18s Coupe Nike, Jonathan Raoul’s side were determined to complete what had so far been a near-perfect campaign, marked by five victories, 30 goals scored, and only one conceded. Last month, it was at the Campus, against the young Lyon players, that the Rouge et Bleu had emphatically secured their place in the final. Now, against Le Havre, the club from the capital had the chance to write its name into the history books of this new competition.
As a curtain-raiser to the Women’s Coupe de France final between the Parisian side and OL Lyonnes, the crowd at the Stade du Hainaut turned out in force to watch the next generation in action. Around midday, the battle got underway between two teams showing plenty of commitment from the very first minutes. While the Le Havre players created the first opportunity (3'), the young Parisians responded immediately (7'), though neither side was able to make the breakthrough.
While the match had been evenly balanced up to that point, the first spark came from the Normandy side, who opened the scoring through Luna Laboucarie (1–0, 28'). Close to equalising in first-half stoppage time, the Parisian players nevertheless went into the break trailing by one goal. Right from the restart, Jonathan Raoul’s team looked far more attacking-minded and repeatedly threatened the Le Havre goal. After several unsuccessful attempts, it was ultimately from a well-executed counter-attack led by Sofia Djoubri and finished by Oluchi Basil that the club from the capital drew level (1–1, 56').
That goal breathed new life into the Rouge et Bleu, who raised the intensity in an effort to take the lead against opponents who appeared to be losing momentum in the second half. With twenty minutes remaining, Basil thought she had delivered the decisive blow, but a goal-line clearance from a Le Havre defender preserved the deadlock. Shortly afterwards, Léa Morissaint unleashed a superb strike from outside the box that left the Normandy goalkeeper with absolutely no chance (1–2, 71').
Far from giving up, Le Havre forced Camille Masson into an important save (74'). Eager to put the game beyond reach, the Parisian players maintained their intensity late in the match, only to see the winning goal denied by yet another goal-line clearance in the dying moments (89'). As the clock ticked down, the Le Havre side managed to equalise deep into stoppage time from the penalty spot, sending the two teams to a penalty shootout (2–2, 90+5').
But it only delayed the inevitable for our young Parisians, who produced an exceptional penalty shootout by converting all five of their attempts, while Camille Masson saved one of Le Havre’s penalties. This was enough to secure the very first U18s Coupe Nike trophy for her teammates and forever etch their names into the history of the competition.
