The Champion’s Cup – the amateur tournament helping unearth ‘France’s future goldenboys’ | OneFootball

France is renowned for its production of top-class talent. Their products, who come through the academy systems, or via Clairefontaine fill up the top leagues across Europe. However, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all route to the top. The story of Youssouf Fofana, who dropped out of Clairefontaine, returned to amateur football and then built his way back to the top, firstly with RC Strasbourg Alsace, then AS Monaco, and all the way onto the World Cup final, is a testament to that.

Chelsea’s Wesley Fofana a graduate

There is a new route that has also been forged. Since 2010, the Champion’s Cup Rekupo has allowed amateur clubs a glimpse into the professional world. It can also provide access to it, too, with Chelsea’s Wesley Fofana a notable graduate from the tournament, the finals of which took place at the Allianz Riviera, Nice, this week.

“It gives them a glimpse into the top level, in optimal conditions, in a big stadium. They know that there is still a long way to go to reach the top level, but it is good for them to get a glimpse at their age and to understand certain things,” the Champion’s Cup’s founder, Jean-Christophe Marquet tells Get French Football News.

“For them to play on this pitch where the pros play, I imagine that it is important for them,” added OGC Nice’s Tanguy Ndombélé who dropped in on the youth tournament. Le Gym’s sporting director Florian Maurice also watched over proceedings, as did former Olympique de Marseille manager Rolland Courbis, who spoke with aspiring coaches.

Champion’s Cup a ‘factory’ for French talent

They looked on as Montpellier HSC won the U11 tournament, AC Berthe won the U9 tournament, an RC Strasbourg Alsace won the U13 Girls competition. However, for the U11s, there is a bigger prize on offer, a place in Team France, under the tutelage of former FC Nantes and SC Bastia player Sébastien Piocelle. Integration into the set-up can help forge a professional career, as Chelsea’s Fofana, Mohamed Simakan, and more recently Paris Saint-Germain’s Axel Tape, can attest.

Inclusion in Team France entails a set of camps over the course of the next year, as well as matches against professional clubs. It is yet another means by which talent can be identified in France. “It is an age at which often the best players are at amateur clubs. We know that in all amateur clubs, they’re working better, and there is a lot of quality. We take advantage of it for Team France,” Piocelle tells us.

“We are in some ways of factory for boys that may be the future goldenboys of French football,” adds Marquet. The Champion’s Cup is a means of making the dream of turning professional more accessible, but it is also a way of preventing unearthed talents slipping through the cracks in France; it is a competition that could soon be upscaled to prevent the same thing happening in countries across Europe.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from the Allianz Riviera, Nice