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Football Club de Nantes Atlantique
- Founded 1943, turned professional 1945
- Colours : Yellow and Green, à la Norwich City. They too share the same nickname : 'Les Canaris' in French.
- Stadium : La Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau stadium capacity is 39,500 and the average attendance last season around 26,700.
- Honours :
Division One Champions : 1965, 66, 73, 77, 80, 83, 95
Coupe de France Winners : 1979, 99 ; Runners-Up : 1966, 70, 73, 83, 93
They finished 7th in the League last season (W12, D12, L10, GF40, GA34) and entered the UEFA Cup after they won Second Division side Sedan 1-0 in the 'Coupe de France' Final.
- FCNA in Europe :
C1 : Pld 28, W 9, D 10, L 9 (They never entered the Champions League)
C2 : Pld 12, W 7, D 0, L 5. Arsenal would have meet Nantes in the '80 ECWC Final should Valencia not have won them in the semis
UEFA Cup : Pld 38, W 14, D 13, L 11
1999/00 Campaign : They eliminated first the Greeks of Ionikos Nikea by winning them 3-1 away and 1-0 at home, then Inter Bratislava 3-0 and 4-0.
Scorers : Monterrubio, Da Rocha 3 ; Sibierski 2 ; Carrière, Devineau, Lièvre 1
- On the domestic front, Nantes started the 1999/00 season with a 1-0 win over champions Bordeaux in the "Trophée des Champions", French equivalent of the Charity Shield.
In the League FCNA are currently 12th with 19 pts : Pld16, W6, D1, L9, GF19, GA21. They are undefeated in their 3 last games after they conceded 6 defeats on the trot. Inconsistent team I hear you say?
Top scorers : Sibierski 7 ; Monterrubio, Carrière 3 ; Olembé 2
In terms of formative clubs Nantes are amongst the big boys in France, if not the biggest. To name but a few players of late, World Champions Deschamps, Desailly and Karembeu started their professional career on the shores of La Loire.
Boss Raynald Denoueix, now aged 51 followed in the steps of emblematic Claude 'Coco' Suaudeau. He is a one club man, played for them in the late 60's and '70s then coached the youngsters before he was given the full job in '97.
All credits to the staff who produce good youngsters year in year out as they seem unable to prevent their players to leave. Approximately two thirds of current squad players were formed at the club which provide tremendous facilities at La Jonelière, their training complex. Adepts of the 4-4-2 formation with no genuine wingers, they play quick and fluid football by using short passes but are missing a lethal striker and lack aerial presence. They are on the verge to sign u-21 Bosniac Int' l Mirza Mesic from Sloboda Tuzla to add more power upfront.
- The Squad (stats are [hopefully] correct up to Nov, 21)
Goalkeepers :
1 - Mickaël Landreau, 20yr, 109 games played in Div One. FCNA' s first choice keeper since he is 17, the captain of the u-21 French team is a tremendous keeper, good in the air and displays superb reflexes on his line.
16 - Willy Grondin, 25yr, warms the bench since Landreau is an ever-present this season. I doubt he is related to our David.
30 - Jérémie Guy, 19yr
Defenders :
19 - Jean-Marc Chanelet, 31yr, 135/3 is their usual right-back
2 - Nestor Fabbri, 30 yr, 39/4 . The Argentinian centre-back who was capped 40 times for his country joined Nantes from Boca Juniors last season. Currently injuried, he is reported to undergo an op and will miss both games
5 - Nicolas Gillet, 23yr, 32/2, plays CB and is said to be not that good in the air
3 - Stéphane Lièvre, 27yr, 122/1 plays on the left
4 - Samuel Fénillat, 21yr, 3/0
13 - Matthieu Berson, 19yr, 0/0
21 - Pascal Delhommeau, 20yr, 3/0
22 - John Gope-Fenepej, 21yr, 0/0 is a Cameroon Int' l
23 - Sébastien Macé, 21yr, 4/0
24 - Yves Deroff, 21yr, 22/0. The u-21 French Int' l sustained a double fracture to the right leg against Marseille last May and only resumed training earlier this month
31 - Hakim Sar, 19yr, 0/0
Midfielders :
9 - Eric Carrière, 26yr, 76/5, is a good dribbler of the ball who plays in central midfield alongside...
12 - ... Sébastien Piocelle, 21yr, 40/0, France u-21 dynamo midfielder who keeps tackling for 90 minutes and is an ever-present this season. Not very offensive-minded
10 - Antoine Sibierski, 25yr, 176/36. The opportunist midfielder/forward always has an eye on goal and is good at taking free-kicks
20 - Charles Devineau, 20yr, 32/2. Newly capped u-21 French Int' l
15 - Nicolas Savinaud, 24yr, 104/7. Defensive midfielder who currently plays at CB alongside Gillet because of Fabbri' s injury
6 - Salomon Olembé, 19yr, 51/3. Skillful and pacy, the u-21 Cameroon Int 'l is at his best when he surges forward on the left handside of the pitch. Can also play at left-back
14 - Mehdi Leroy, 21yr, 25/1
28 - Hassan Ahamada, 18yr, 11/0. French u-18 Int' l who plays on the right and recently scored vs Armenia and Scotland
35 - Goran Rubil, 19yr, 0/0 is a young player from Croatia
Forwards :
8 - Frédéric Da Rocha, 25yr, 118/21 usually holds the right handside of the front line. He received 17 stitches in his leg after he got injuried after 25 minutes last Saturday against Nancy. Unlikely to make the trip to THOF
18 - Olivier Monterrubio, 23yr, 57/11. Another former trainee and now member of the France B squad, he is the man to watch. Quick, skillful, has a very good left foot and links well with Da Rocha and Sibierski
17 - Samba N'Diaye, 27yr, 115/15. A former Senegalese u-21 International
26 - Gaetano Giallanza, 25yr, 12/2. The Swiss player never settled into the team since he joined the club a few seasons ago and spent long spells with Bolton and Lugano (alongside Vivas?) on loan
25 - Patrick Suffo, 21yr, 29/4 is a Cameroon u-21 International who could join Man City on loan
7 - Alioune Touré, 21yr, 28/2 won the u-18 European Championship in '97 with France alongside one certain Nicolas A. Injuried at the moment
11 - Diego Bustos, 25yr, 11/0. Joined Nantes from Ferrocarril Oeste
27 - Pierre Aristouy, 20yr, 2/0
29 - Marama Vahirua, 19yr, 1/0
Probable team : Landreau - Chanelet, Savinaud, Gillet, Lièvre - Carrière, Sibierski, Piocelle, Olembé - Da Rocha/Ahamada, Monterrubio
- Not much sites dedicated to les Canaris, but a fully comprehensive FCNA Unofficial website (in French only) is located at http://www.fcnantes.com
For travelling Gooners, details about the venue in France are also available at http://www.france98.com/english/venues/venues/nantes.html and
http://www.mairie-nantes.fr
You can also see timetables and book train tickets at http://voyages.sncf.fr/voyages_gb/acgb_accueil.html
Non-Internet resources :
Club phone number : + 33 2 40 37 29 29 / fax : + 33 2 40 37 29 21
Club snail mail address : BP 31124, Nantes cedex 03
Stadium phone number : + 33 2 40 30 11 22
copyright belongs to original author where credited. otherwise © Rupert Ward, ArseWeb MMV
ArseWeb is NOT the official Arsenal site. The (excellent) official site is here
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