Tuesday 9 October 2012

French Guiana interview


The latest edition of Le Coupe de l'Outre Mer in Paris was not a huge success for French Guiana (pictured).

The French territory located on the tip of North America had a difficult opening game against Reunion, the Indiean Ocean island that won the inaugaral tournament in 2008. Reunion beat French Guiana 2-0 in Versailles and would go on to win the latest edition of the biannual competition for French colonies.

A member of the Caribbean Football Union but prevented from joining FIFA due to being a department of France, French Guiana had an equally difficult second match against a strong Guadeloupe XI at the Stade Bauer in Saint Ouen.

French Guiana were easily beaten 4-2 by Guadeloupe, before going on to finish their group fixtures with a 11-1 win over the tiny French territory of St Pierre et Miquelon at the Parc des Sports, also in Saint-Ouen.

The tournament did end on a bright note after a 2-1 win over Oceania champions Tahiti in a play-off for fifth place in Clairefontaine, but a campaign that was always going to be difficult for French Guiana was made even more so by their own federation.

French Guiana's manager was forced to watch his side's matches in Paris from the stands after being served with a four match ban by his own federation before flying out of Cayenne to Paris. The ban came after a dispute with another official in a car park after a game back home in Cayenne. 

To hear details of this dispute plus more on football in French Guiana, listen to an interview with the team's manager here.

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