Nice 3-3 ASSE (Plus Some Transfer Chatter)

By: Martha | July 27th, 2008

First half:

Letizi
Diakité-Yahia-Kanté-Jeunechamp
Echouafni-Fae-Traoré
Remy-Modeste-Bamogo

Second half:

Ospina
Diakité-Hognon-Cid-Rool
Echouafni (Adu, 82rd)-Fae-Traoré
Bamogo (Quansah, 76th)-Remy-Ben Saada

Goals: Remy (45th pen, 62nd), Bamogo (71st pen) for Nice; Ilan (9th), Gigliotti (19th, 56th pen) for ASSE

(No Hellebuyck because of a slight leg problem; nothing serious but Antonetti didn’t want to risk him.)

It’s too bad there’s so little to be found about this match, because it sounds completely insane. Three penalties, a wet pitch, a horrible error by Letizi — who wouldn’t want to have seen that?

The match reports, such as there are, confirm that ASSE were by far the better team in the first half, helped considerably by a lot of individual errors by Nice, particularly in the defense, and an apparent lack of confidence from the entire team. Fantastic. That said, Nice improved in the second half and, while it’s frustrating to have been outplayed two matches in a row, the fact that they battled back (from 0-2 and 1-3) to tie it is definitely a good sign, and something to which desperate, striker-craving supporters can cling.

Also encouraging were two more goals from Remy, one from the penalty spot and the other from 35 yards when he caught the ASSE keeper off his line and lobbed him spectacularly. If this kid can be half as productive once the season starts as he is right now, he’ll go a long way toward justifying the price the club paid for him. Speaking of promising new arrivals, it’s interesting to see Ben Saada playing up top again — he was used only in the midfield against Grenoble, but seems to have really shone as part of an attacking trident yesterday.

Additionally, Ospina continues to impress: The only goal he gave up was on a PK, and Letizi’s recent struggles are only increasing calls for the Colombian to start the season as first choice. That seems unlikely, but it’s still awfully reassuring to have a young, skilled keeper ready to step in when called upon.

Finally, it’s nice to see Quansah making another appearance after not figuring against Grenoble. He and the other Ghanian trialist (Adu) just got a few minutes each, but at least they’re still around — the three youth players who were with the team at the start of camp have vanished from the friendly lineups.

Other news: Carlos Tenorio is right out, but Eric Mouloungui is reportedly set to arrive from Strasbourg within the next few days. More on him when it’s official, but assuming it is: One striker down, one to go. Also, in their down time at Albertville, the team took in a women’s handball match. Very nice.