BORDEAUX WINS THE CHAMPIONS TROPHY, DEFEAT GUINGAMP 2-0
For a second time in as many years, FC Girondins de Bordeaux won the Champions Trophy after defeating French Cup Champs, En Avant de Guingamp by a score of 2-0 at the Big O.
The Montreal Impact, who organized and hosted the event, managed to also set a Champions Trophy record in attendance with 34,068 spectators in attendance at Olympic Stadium. The previous record, set in 2006 topped 30, 529.
“The event was a huge success,” mentioned Impact Executive Vice President Richard Legendre. “We had important challenges to organize the event in a two-month period, notably the fact that the Champions Trophy wasn’t very know from the start. Today we were treated to a very competitive match. Bordeaux was very happy to win and Guingamp, very disappointed to lose. Needless to say that Olympic Stadium is a good soccer stadium.”
While Guingamp had a Cinderella-like run to the Champions trophy, beating better teams along the way in their division 2 league as well as a come from behind victory in the French Cup playoff against Ssweden, Bordeaux was the reigning champs in Division 1, current Champions Trophy champions and a team with more experience and skill.
One got the impression early on that the Guingamp clan was merely trying to not get outplayed in front of the Bordeaux team that Guingamp coach Victor Zvunka said his players "admired and looked up to".
“I think that we measured up to the event, but we rubbed against a very good opponent that made us run, said Guingamp head coach Victor Zvunka. “I’m happy with the way we were greeted by the organizers. Everything went well during our five days here, except the loss.”
Bordeaux, on the other hand, bided their time, played a solid game and waited for their opportunities and capitaliezed on most of them.
Bordeaux's first goal came at the 38th when Fernando Caveneghi fired a bullet past Guingamp 'keeper Stéphane Trévisan after receiving a perfectcross from defender Benoit Tremoulinas, who overwhelmed the Guingamp defense on the left flank.
Bordeaux midfielder Fernando Menegazzo put it away at the 90th minute when a free kick attempt that bounced off the post, which Menegazzo jumped on front the 6-yard area with a strike that Trévisan had absolutely no chance on.
“I was very satisfied with the outcome because the only important thing today was to win,” said Bordeaux head coach Laurent Blanc. “We didn’t win easily, but we definitely deserved the victory. I hope that this result will bode well for our upcoming championship.”
“We created various scoring occasions and we scored early on in the match, said Bordeaux midfielder Yoann Gourcuff, who was named Setanta Sports Player of the Match. We will be able to finish our training in Canada in good spirits. We are still in a preparation phase, so not everything is perfect, but I think that we sought to play today, in addition to posting a solid defense. We adapted well to the artificial surface and this was favourable for our passing game.”
Bordeaux will stay in town a few more days as they will play the Impact in a firendly match on Tuesday night. Excellent tickets are still available for this match through Admission (514-790-1245 / admission.com) or at the ticketing office of Saputo Stadium. Ticket prices range between $10 and $30 (taxes included).
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