Who does he think he is, Gerd Müller?

ASSE 0-1 Nice
But: Echouafni (20è) pour Nice

St Etienne: Janot – Andreu, Benalouane, Varrault, Sauget – Machado, Hautcoeur, Dernis (Payet, 73è) – Ilan (c), Gomis (Gigliotti, 82è), Mirallas (Matsui, 64è)

Nice: Letizi – Diakité, Apam, Kanté, Rool – Echouafni (c), Coulibaly (Jeunechamp, 73è), Faé, Hellebuyck – Bamogo (Modeste, 58è), Mouloungui (Cid, 94è)

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There’s not really much to say about this match, apart from that it was just the sort of ugly win that makes you really proud of a team. The three points won were nothing to do with ability, and everything to do with desire, organization, and fight; points that have to be gutted out if Nice are dreaming of an extend stay within shouting distance of where they are in the table right now.

Conditions were dreadful and, for essentially the whole match, it was 10 men behind the ball and a whole lot of running from everyone in red and black. Ugly or not, it was awesome to see how hard everyone worked — Bamogo did nothing but defend for long stretches, and Hellebuyck, who must be the fittest man in the world, was all over the pitch, particularly late when legs were going and no one else could get forward. He was immense.

Really, it’s hard to think of much to add to Anonetti’s postmatch comments, particularly the bit where he said “I [take my] hat off to our defense that was heroic.” Damn right. This team have given up one goal (against five scored) in their last four league matches and, apart from some lapses against Lorient, the defense — including Letizi, who doesn’t get many style points, but is there when he needs to be — has looked nearly impenetrable. I don’t care who you’re playing, those are impressive numbers. After a preseason spent leaking goals, I don’t think anyone would have guessed a Lloris-free Nice would be defending this convincingly, even by late November.

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I also don’t think anyone actually believes Nice will stay this close to the top of the table for long, but it’s fair to say that, in the last seven matches — starting with Bordeaux and including Créteil — the team have really shown us something. Apart from periodic, inspired stretches, the football isn’t petty, but they’re smart, they’re hard to play against, and they believe in themselves. Those three things, even without Rémy, and without the still-missing killer instinct, have made Nice a force to be reckoned with and, most importantly, a team that can tough out wins, even when they’re not playing well. If they can keep their wits about them moving forward (and adjust successfully when Rémy comes back), they’re going to make this interesting.

And, finally, while digging through ASSE forums yesterday, in amidst the “OMG NICE PLAY ANTIFOOTBALL!11!!!” rants and debates on whether they should moon over how much they want Antontetti back or just move on, I found this post, which I thought was a pretty perceptive summary of where Nice stand and how they play (forgive the Google translate garbling, I think you can still get the gist):

Nice still lost 4 best players in the offseason (Balmont, Kone, Lloris, Ederson) does not have a staff of Cador championship (an attack Mouloungui-Bamogo-Modeste, we saw more impressive) and was moving last night without his main striker (Remy). One can therefore understand that this team has not proposed football-champagne, outside what is more, and also in a relegation (kind of wounded beast that must be wary because it is always susceptible to rebel) .

Nice done with its resources and for now that they succeeded fairly well. They seek to maintain them as soon as possible and once the first goal achieved, they will seek the highest possible. They are not flamboyant in the game (how many teams are in France?), They know very well that they will be very difficult to maintain their current pace of 38 days but offset by a state of mind of combatants and not drop anything. And the points made are no longer taken.

Finally, Antonetti yells perhaps on the edge of the button, but he is at the root of this desire that we see on the ground and that made her a commando team on which many training just break your teeth (when they appear above Nice on paper). If Etienne had half the commitment and willingness shown by the people of Nice on the first 15 games, it would not be the 20th this morning.

(I’m generally a pretty cynical, irritable football fan, but having Nice described that way by an opposing supporter made me feel almost embarrassingly proud.)

Apam played right back and got forward well a couple of times, creating a few of Nigeria’s handful of chances. Because of way the match went in the second half, Ospina had very little to do, but he did tip a shot over the bar well (in the highlights here), and also pulled off an insane diving header with a striker’s boot bearing down on him. I have no idea why he thought his head was a better tool for the moment than his right boot, but it was crazy brave — in the real sense of the word, not the way Ray Hudson (to whom “brave” seems to mean “breathing”) uses it. And, to make the whole thing even more bizarre, the attacker was flagged for offside, though there was no way for Ospina to know that when he unveiled his header skills.

Elsewhere:

•Faé played all 90 minutes for Ivory Coast in their 2-2 draw with Israel. According to the official Nice site, it was his shot that was deflected in by the Israeli keeper for Ivory Coast’s second goal.

•Gabon seem to have drawn 3-3 with Guinea, but I have no idea whether Mouloungui scored, assisted on anything, or even played. If anyone has a good source for African results, please drop it in the comments, I’m totally at a loss.

•Tunisia drew 0-0 away to Ghana; it doesn’t look like Ben Saada got on the pitch, if he even made the bench.

Back in France, meanwhile, David Hellebuyck is officially tied for the league lead with five assists (more than his total for the entire 2007-2008 season), a fact that apparently made him very flustered when the Nice Media Minions asked him about it today. Aw. When he wasn’t being embarrassed, Hellebuyck preached caution about facing a desperate ASSE side this weekend, and gave welcome assurances about his health — he’s not had any problems with his knee for all of two weeks, which is apparently cause for great celebration.

•Ben Saada played 10 minutes of Tunisia’s 1-3 friendly loss to France yesterday. Friendly or not, it was a big match for him personally, since he’s French-born and won a U-17 title in a France shirt before choosing Tunisia as his senior side. (Based on his grinny, pre-match interview, though, he’s never had much regret about the choice.)

•Quansah scored on a free kick to beat Gambia 1-0, putting Ghana’s U20s into their first Africa Youth Championships since 2001. W00t! (Thanks to commenter Mawuli for the heads-up.)

•There’s still work to do for Rémy, who played 92 minutes (and then was subbed) in the Bleuets’ 1-1 draw with Germany last week, and is quietly confident ahead of today’s massive, all-or-nothing second leg.

•In actual Nice team news, Kanté is suspended for the derby because of accumulated yellows. Superb.

•Letizi missed training yesterday with a calf strain, but he’s hoping to be back on the pitch today. (What a L1 debut Monaco would be for Ospina, huh? No pressure, kiddo.)

•Lots of prematch quotes here, from Faé, Cyril #1, and Hellebuyck, none of whom even bother to throw out the old “it’s just another match” line, given that the match would be massive even if it wasn’t the freaking derby.

•The gaffer, meanwhile, is already working the referees, saying he remembers near-violent conduct from Monaco last season, but — picture a very serious, slightly sad expression on Antonetti’s round face for this bit — that now he “hope[s for] fair arbitration.”

•And, finally, Roger Ricort and Eric Roy gave what is actually a pretty interesting interview radio interview this week. The full interview is up at ogcnice.tv, if you pay for that, but if not, the high points are here, including discussion of the futures of Matt Moussilou and Morrisson Ozokwo (the latter is rendered confusedly by Google Translate), a touch of regret about what happened with Laslandes, and vague plans to buy in the winter transfer window.

Now, if you’re anywhere near Nice, get offline and to the team store so you can see Cyril #1 and Ospina present the new kit. Go! Take pictures!

If your club’s not buying or selling a superstar or sending players to Big Name European National Teams, international breaks are almost entirely bereft of items of interest. The Nice players not on international duty are busy training (there’s a very boring video proving this at the official site), and the rest are off with their national teams, training in such seclusion that no photo or news agencies can find them. (Well, either that or they don’t want to find them. But that’s can’t be it, right?)

The news, such as it is:

•Despite the absence of so many first-team players, Matt Moussilou, Patrick Baru and Joseph-Desire Job all remain in the reserve team, while babies from the youth team join the big kids for training. Supposedly Moussilou and Baru could be heading to Qatar sooner than later, Moussilou returning to the site of his goal-scoring explosion last year, while Baru will embark on a brand new adventure there (where someone other than Nice will be paying him).

•Traoré will be out two weeks with the thigh injury he picked up against Valenciennes, so thank goodness Ben Saada is back. Cyril #1, supposedly, will be back in full training this weekend. So they say, anyway — I realize we’ve heard this before.

•Lilian Laslandes, who was supposed to be patient this summer and wait for Nice to resign him, is still without a contract, and is regretting not signing the extension he was offered last winter. He’s apparently considering retiring, which is sad, but the man is ancient in footballing terms and, even with the pay cut to which he agreed last winter, still earns a pretty substantial salary. Nice may regret letting him go if there are awful striker injury problems later in the season (Excuse me for a second while I knock on wood and throw salt everywhere.), but at the moment it just seems like a good business decision not to keep him around.

•Even with the lofty place in the table (Fourth! FOURTH!), Antonetti’s keeping his wits about him, and is already thinking about next summer — he’s well aware of what happens to clubs who sell the top players every summer, and doesn’t want Nice to follow their examples and end up floundering in L2. Is there anything better than a coach who always sees the worst possible future? I don’t think so. (That’s sincere, by the way. I absolutely love his fierce refusal to get excited about anything.)

•Hellebuyck and Chouf have weighed in on the team’s progress this week, the former discussing new tactics (pushing further up the pitch and trying to attack more) and the latter (on 100% Aiglons, which is available on the official website in annoying flash video form) lauding the team’s “fabulous state of mind.”

Only nine days until Lyon.

•I don’t care how old Cyril Rool gets, I will never not be excited to hear that he’ll be around a little longer. For this reason, the news that he’d signed his long-awaited (by me, anyway) extension today was a source of great joy — and the fact that David Hellebuyck also signed one isn’t bad, either. Cyril #1 will now be at the club through 2010, while Hellebuyck will, at least on paper, be around through the end of the 2011-2012 season.

•In significantly less good news, meanwhile, Vincent Hognon, who picked up a knock against LOSC on Saturday, missed training today and is no longer certain for the Le Havre match. He’ll face a fitness test later this week, at which point a decision about his availability will be made. Good lord. No Apam, no Rool, no Hognon? I hope you’re reading this Rémy — goals are needed. For real.

•Speaking of the Lille match, they’ve put highlights up on their website (they start about two minutes into the video) and, while he makes a couple alert stops, Letizi looks really bad on the second and third goals: They’re both from corners, and he flaps terribly at the crosses both times. Based on his performance at the end of last season when Lloris was out, I went into the summer totally fine with Letizi being first choice, but the last couple friendies have me inching closer and closer to being in the “If Ospina can say ‘I,’ ‘you’ and ‘away,’ lets give him a shot” camp.

•For no discernible reason, the official site has put up a gallery of training pictures from today. Also, there’s (non-official site) video from the open training session here, including brief interviews with Ben Saada and Rémy. Notice how they keep the mic far away from Ospina, but make sure to dwell on his tantalizing skillz.