In the absence of sunbathing, which only showed up at the very end of their session, the Lensois were able to enjoy a good crowd bath on Wednesday, two days before the derby in Lille. The Sang et Or trained in front of 5,000 spectators at the François-Blin d’Avion stadium. Lots of toddlers, Wednesday obliged, a lot of singing, a few smoke bombs to add a little color and barely a few pet names towards the rival: we were rather in the good child.
A few internationals who had played the day before were missing – Danso, Frankowski, Abdul Samed… – as well as Jonathan Gradit, who left at half-time against Nice (1-3) due to muscle discomfort and who trained apart, notably in the company of Jimmy Cabot. But there were still some good people there, notably Deiver Machado, who hasn’t played since the end of November due to adductor surgery and who was able to complete the entire session.
The French Hopes were there, and Andy Diouf, who started on Monday and who shortened the session a little, was able to see that his start to the week had been noticed. “Your goal against the United States is so beautiful!” », shouted a child, asking for an autograph. Almost at the same time, his friend Elye Wahi scored in the top corner from a tight angle during an opposition, provoking the remark of a facetious kid: “Wahi, I want the same Friday!” »
Samba et Sotoca in rockstars
Then a clamor arose when Brice Samba entered the pitch, half an hour after the start of the session. The international goalkeeper was also able to measure his popularity at the end of training, when several dozen children stopped being good and landed on the pitch to ask for signatures and selfies. Real swarms surrounded him and Florian Sotoca as they said goodbye. It even took the reinforcement of several members of security to allow the two men to leave the field, and all they needed were sunglasses to look like perfect rockstars.
The crowd was so dense at the exit of the field that even deputy Lilian Nalis had difficulty getting the utility vehicle loaded with the dummies used for the free kicks to start. The supporters will be a little less numerous on Friday, but the Lensois will still be able to count on support. A thousand Artesian supporters are expected to fill the visitor parking lot at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium. This is 1,000 more than in the first leg, where Lille was banned from traveling.