Yes, We Have No Ba-Rémys

By: Martha | November 15th, 2008

Despite his admirable, 21-year-old’s confidence (which is about 15 years more developed than it was in the picture on the left), Rémy in fact did not recover in time to make the squad for tomorrow’s match. Bugger. There rest of the list is entirely as expected:

Gardiens: Letizi, Ospina
Défenseurs: Apam, Cid, Diakité, Hognon, Kanté, Rool
Milieux: Coulibaly, Echouafni, Faé, Hellebuyck, Jeunechamp
Attaquants: Bamogo, Ben Saada, Modeste, Mouloungui, Quansah
Absents: Traoré, Rémy (blessés), Adu, Barul, Gace, Moreau, Moussilou, Ozokwo (choix de l’entraîneur)

Away from tomorrow’s squad, there were at least three articles about Emerse Faé in various French outlets yesterday. Did he hold an all-press conference call, or something? I guess, as a former Nantes player, he’s the obvious person to talk to as the media try in uselessly to generate neutral interest in the match — it was worth a try, anyway. Sadly for the press, Faé didn’t have anything controversial to say, though he nevertheless didn’t shy away from agreeing with the assertion that there are significant problems at Nantes, problems that were not solved by their brief stay in L2. (Not exactly an earth-shattering revelation.) As a kid at Nantes, because of the problems there, he thought constant “tension off the field” was the norm, which is among the saddest things I’ve ever heard. Happily, though, Nice is showing him otherwise, and he’s loving life on the Côte d’Azur, in no small part because he’s playing regularly after a year in the stands in England.

Doing their part in the build-up, Ouest France ran an interview with Antonetti, who assured them he’s “very much in Nice” and that his family loves the city so he’s not going anywhere. (Cross your fingers, everyone.) He also talks about the insane youth of his team — despite the ancient people who are central to Nice, 16 of the players on the roster are between 18 and 22 years old (GOOD GOD) — and assures the reporter the team can still improve in every area.

If I find a stream tomorrow, I’ll put it up. Otherwise, enjoy your minute-by-minute text updates, everyone!

ETA: Lots of streams here, and not just the TV-aimed-at-webcam kind.