Revons Plus Grand
Chapter 21:
Don't Lose My Number
On Friday, as the press were called in to witness 15 minutes of Unai Emery's Paris Saint-Germain training, Mr. Benoit Rousseau called in Georgette Lemare and Sadako Shimohara for a meeting. "So as you know," he said, "PSG will be away to Avranches of the third division in the next round. There is a problem with that."
"What is it?" asked Georgette.
"The ground, Stade René Fenouillère, is too small. There is only seating for 1,000 people."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh dear."
"So as a result, the match will be moved to Stade Michel d'Ornano in Caen. The home of Stade Malherbe Caen."
"Caen? But that team is on the verge of being relegated this season!" exclaimed Sadako. "Our next cup match, aside from the Coupe de La Ligue final, is at the ground of a side facing relegation!"
"We don't worry about the tenants in this case," Benoit said.
"Mr. Benoit!"
"Look, Sadako, Mr. Gilbert Guerin, the owner of US Avranches, wanted the match to be at the Stade de France but it is cost-prohibitive. Furthermore, it would provide an unfair advantage to us, and though we would love to have every advantage we could get, we are the visiting team and the hosts would have to foot the bill."
"Unfortunate," groaned Jose. "Avranches truly is worlds away. Sada, you psychic."
"Uh, I think it was a coincidence, the song I sang to you. I had nothing to do with it," she protested.
"Also, Caen aren't exactly in the relegation running, but they are four points off the drop zone and are 14th," added Benoit. "However, it looks like they will be pretty much in good stead if they get on a hot streak at this point."
"Ah, that's a relief," Jose said, wiping the sweat off her brow.
"And there won't be a single seat empty either because the Michel d'Ornano seats 21,500. That means the place will be packed will a lot of people making the drive westbound from the A13."
"I'm just glad Caen isn't going to be on pace to go down but since they're only four points off the drop zone, they'll have to keep winning," said Sadako.
"The other Coupe de France ties are Angers SCO vs. Girondins de Bordeaux, Frejus-Saint-Raphael vs. EA Guingamp, and AS Monaco vs. Lille OSC," Benoit said. "Monaco gets a fair test, but barely, as Lille were forced to get the match winner from Eder in the fourth minute of second half stoppage time. At the worst, there will be two Ligue 1 teams remaining, at the best, the rest of the Coupe de France will be shouldered by Ligue 1 and hopefully, us."
"So do we help out the team on their trip to Caen?" asked Georgette.
"Well, the last match currently on the schedule is a home match with Caen on May 20, so it doesn't look like you will be needed but I will ask Mr. Nasser and Unai if you can accompany them nonetheless."
"Thank you, Mr. Benoit, it will be an honor."
"On to other items on the agenda. As you know very well, you will be needed to help the team at the Parc this Saturday. The objective against Nancy is to get the win but not exhaust our aces ahead of next Wednesday," said Benoit. "Mr. Nasser has decided that you can indeed accompany us to Barcelona."
"Really?" exclaimed Jose. "That's an honor indeed!"
"We'll be flying there in the morning and arriving in the evening. The flight is about two hours including waiting time but we will have a chartered flight via Air France that will take us to El Prat before we have to head on a bus to the stadium. We're thinking about having a training today and then flying there on Monday night to avoid jet lag, since we're only crossing one border line."
"What's El Prat?" asked Sadako.
"That's the name of Barcelona's airport. Barcelona-El Prat Airport, located in the local municipality of El Prat de Llobregat. It is the primary airport in Catalonia, second busiest in Spain, and one of the busiest in Europe."
"I have another question to ask: do Catalonians actually speak Spanish?"
"As a matter of fact, yes they do, but they have their own regional language that they tout, which is a nice dialect to watch while listening to Barcelona games on RAC 1, the primary Catalan language radio network in the region. RAC stands for Ràdio Associació de Catalunya. After our win over Barca, the local talk shows were discussing the loss of this concept they call credibilitat al carrer."
"Credibilitat Al Carrer?" asked Jose, an eyebrow raised. "What's that?"
"Street credibility. Pride. Legitimacy. Relevance. Barcelona have been kicked to the curb. Al Madrid, Al Carrer. That's what they are saying. The loss has forced Luis Enrique to step down as manager at the end of the year but we would like nothing more than to put him out of his misery and get the win next Wednesday. But in order to do that, we need to tune up, and the game against Nancy tomorrow will do just that."
"I would love to visit Barcelona and their church," said Sadako. "Sagrada Familia, huh?"
"That's the name, a Gothic style church. There are other churches as well, but that is the big one in the city. Catalonia comes from the word Gothia or Gothland, the land of the Goths. Gothland, Gothlandia, Catalonia. That explains why there is a lot of Gothic architecture in the city. You will love visiting it but since you work for us, make sure to treat this like a business trip. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" they both said.
Nancy would end up losing to Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 on an 80th minute penalty conversion by Cavani, while France and England would battle to a scoreless draw. The USA, however, would suffer their first defeat of the year, a 1-0 loss to England, who had just lost to France. That made France heavy favorites to win the SheBelieves Cup, as they were the only side yet to lose. Both teams would clash on Tuesday.
"So France beat England who beat the USA who beat Germany," said Sadako as the two girls returned to work at the Parc des Princes the next day. "Truly the top four teams in women's international football."
"On any given day, any team can beat any other team," said Georgette. "I will not be surprised if the USA win on Tuesday, but I am prepared in the event that does happen because if England win, they win on head-to-head . Fair enough, since we end up having a win against the team that wins it all. Either that or we win it all. In any case, this was a good tournament for France."
"And Japan defeated Iceland as well, so we both got the job done this weekend," added Sadako. "2-0. Not too bad, I would imagine.
"I'm just amazed we can actually lift these things," said Georgette, lifting weights and placing them into place. "They seem so light, even though they're supposed to be heavy."
"I know, right? Little do the guys know that we're stronger than they think. Don't let our appearances fool anyone. We're stronger than any brave macho man out there and we pack a punch, too."
"Thus, Sada, it explains why the foreplay we have after work is never dull at all." She looked at the clock. "It's 10. Time to do some cooking." The cat tracker, from a distance, recorded the usual preparation scenes from the two of them, with more seafood incorporated to accommodate to the fact and remind the athletic congregation in particular that it was indeed Lent. The revised training itineraries for the men's first team was as followed.
Monday 6 March 2017 - Ooredoo Training Centre
Training closed to public and media
Tuesday 7 March 2017 - Camp Nou
17:45: Press Conference with Unai Emery and one player
18:30: Training, first 15 minutes open to media
Wednesday 8 March 2017 - Camp Nou
20:45: FC Barcelona - Paris Saint-Germain
UEFA Champions League - Last-16 2nd Leg
Thursday 9 March 2017
Rest day
Friday 10 March 2017 - Ooredoo Training Centre
Training closed to public and media
Saturday 11 March 2017 - Ooredoo Training Centre
Training closed to public and media
13:30: Press Conference with Unai Emery
Sunday 12 March 2017 - Stade du Moustoir
21:00: FC Lorient - Paris Saint-Germain
Ligue 1 - Week 29
After training on Monday, Georgette and Sadako were with the team on their flight to Barcelona, where a decent crowd of fans, many of whom supported Real Madrid, would welcome them with open arms. "Seems like some people from Madrid came by to offer their best wishes," said Sadako as she was on a team coach to the hotel.
"I know," Georgette said. "Isn't that the most amazing thing you ever heard. I thought the crowd was going to be overwhelmingly hostile, but it seems there are some fans who acknowledge that we are a good team, making the rounds, having a title race with Monaco and Nice..."
"European football. It's a thriller. So it looks like we are going to be at the top floor of this hotel, the NH Collection Barcelona Gran Hotel Calderon. It includes a bar/lounge, free WiFi, a restaurant, pool, fitness center and some of the best room service out there." Soon enough the plane touched down in El Prat. "So this is Barcelona..."
"Very good city," said Jose as she and Sadako helped bring the luggage of the team with them to the bus. "Remember, this is a business trip. So don't go over the top with this."
"I know, but, it's Barcelona and..."
"We'll do our melting when we need to sleep, okay? Show restraint." Sadako had to giggle as she saw the Real Madrid fans encourage Angel Di Maria and company en route to a massive game at the Camp Nou.
The next day saw Unai and others field questions on the match. "If we decided to bring so many players, it's because we thought this very important match was a good opportunity to get everyone together," said Unai. "Gonçalo Guedes isn't eligible and he can't play, neither can Thiago Motta, who is injured. After Tuesday's training session, we'll see which players are at 100% for the game.
"The confidence I have in my team is the same as that before the first leg in Paris, and the respect I have for Barça is just as big as I had before the first leg. Our ambition is to produce a performance that follows on from that which we produced at the Parc des Princes. The bigger the challenge, the higher the level of the match. On Wednesday, the atmosphere will be in Barça's favour, just as we had the fans with us in the first leg. The atmosphere is one thing, but the protagonists are on the pitch.
"[The key is] to be prepared for everything that can happen in 90 minutes. We'll need to defend, to attack, to handle challenges well, but also to suffer together and manage to make them suffer. We're preparing for this game as if it were an extension of the first leg. If I've learned something in football, it's to always respect your opponent. I repeat myself: the respect we have for Barça must be the same as before the first leg. They're a great team. We have the chance to play a great match, in a great stadium against a great team. It's the kind of game that can enable a whole club to take a step forward."
"Top of the agenda is to play well," said Blaise Matuidi. "Playing in such a magnificent stadium as the Camp Nou is always nice. We know it well now! There will be a great team up against us, but we're focussed on our game to ensure we qualify. We're capable of doing great things. We have a lot of respect for them, but we also have great players. We're going to do our utmost to qualify. We're ready to play a great game, like in the first leg, and to qualify.
"Playing this kind of game is a great pleasure for any footballer. A Last 16 tie in the Champions League against Barcelona at the Camp Nou...it's the stuff of dreams! So we're going into this game happy and with desire, because we want to qualify. We'll have to put everything into it, because our opponents will want the same thing. It's going to be a great game! We're ready for it. We're approaching it with confidence and respect for this team.
"Barça need to have the ball, to play. Their recent tactical change means they can have even more of the ball. That can bring risks, but it has paid off given their recent results. They'll have to score to qualify. We're more focussed on what we're going to produce, on how to cause them problems. We were able to do that well in the first leg. We're going to try and score without conceding a goal. That's always been our philosophy this season...we're not going to change.
"We're not afraid of anyone, we're focussed on ourselves. Of course, we all know Messi, like all the other players of this great team. We have a lot of respect for them. They have done some really great things in recent years. But in recent games, we've done a lot of good things away from home. We want to keep that going. Barcelona are a very strong team, whose game is based on possession, causing their opponents problems in midfield. It's a little bit like our philosophy. Barça have great qualities up front, in midfield and at the back, but so do we!"
"We're only at the half-way point of this tie," said an embattled yet optimistic Luis Enrique. "Even if we concede a goal, we're capable of scoring six. We have done it on other occasions against other opponents. Our first-leg deficit shouldn't put us off our game. We have nothing to lose and everything to win in this match. A lot has happened since the first leg, and we're on a positive dynamic. There are grounds for optimism."
As it turned out, Luis was a prophet. Barcelona did indeed score six against PSG, conceding one, and won 6-1, winning on aggregate 6-5. Super sub Sergi Roberto was the hero in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time, scoring on a header from Neymar, who earned best on ground honors for igniting the comeback that would have ramifications for the gaffer of the road team, who flew back to Paris without much of a crowd, if any, waiting for them.
None of that mattered to Georgette. She and Sadako only did their job of setting up the change rooms and cleaning up after the match was over. But her eyes were empty because one of the players for Barcelona saw her and gave her a hug and a kiss because he liked her style. Georgette tried to accept the goodwill from the player, as warm and gentle the feeling was, but it left her even more empty than the performance of the Parisians, who would have an uphill battle to maintain their reputation from this point forward.
FC Lorient, an opponent bound for relegation, was next, and only the designated visitors knew how they would respond. The Merlus were definitely looking at the game film from PSG's last three matches and liked their chances of a scalp. The only positive that could be taken was that the French women's national team defeated the USA 3-0 in the SheBelieves Cup at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. to become an odds-on favorite to win the next FIFA Women's World Cup, to be held in a little over two years.
None of that mattered to Georgette, who was chauffeured back with Sadako to their apartment in Boulogne. Sadako was carrying two bags of gifts, along with local delicacies from the gift shops at the hotel and the stadium. But she knew something was not right. Jose was emotionless, even though her French women's national team defeated the USA. After Sadako put the gifts away, and the consumables in the fridge, she looked at Jose, who wore regular pajamas and pants, for the first time ever.
Now Sadako knew something was really wrong, because accordingly to her personal anecdote, if Jose was wearing pajama pants as sleepwear, that means she was in emotional distress. She sat upright, clutching her bent knees as she looked out the window, the apparation of the man who kissed and touched her, Lionel Messi, deflowing and violating her soul. "Jose, are you all right?" She didn't respond through her frown and empty eyes. "Jose? Jose! Answer me!"
She then turned to Sadako and the tears began to fall down. "Sada. Why am I still alive?"
"Jose, it's all right. Don't let this get to you. I know PSG aren't as good as we think, but they're not that bad."
"Sada, I want to die already. I hate living! I hate this so much! Let me die like Jeanne d'Arc! Let me die! Let me die, Sada! Sada! SADA!" And she started to sob and cry loudly as Sada comforted her, the tears falling down immensely. Finally, she let her emotions come out because she did well to contain it until they got home. Sadako also shed some tears and held her tight.
"Shhhh, it's okay," Sadako whispered as Jose's sobs quieted down and she lost consciousnes from exhausting her emotions. It was as if the soul of Paris wanted to also comfort her, as well as the angels who defend the nation in spirit. It was massive group hug that slowly forced Georgette to sleep.
When she woke up, she noticed that she was by herself. In a field, full of flowers. She had no idea where she was and she was looking all over the place, decked barefoot in a white sundress and white bows...and with no top but simple silk whites underneath. "Where am I?" Jose said, the tracks of her tears disappeared. "Um...and..." A light breeze. "Oh, this is uncomfortable but it feels so amazing..."
"Ah, there you are," said a young lady in a middle aged peasant outfit with long auburn hair. "You must have called for me because you are in some distress and want to go the way I did out of desperation and despondency."
"Huh? Wait a minute. Who are you?"
A giggle. "I am your personal guardian angel. My name is Jeanne."
"! You...are Jeanne d'Arc?"
Jeanne smiled and bowed with a head tilt. "A pleasure to finally meet you, Lady Georgette Lemare."
END CHAPTER 21