On Sunday evening, RC Lens hosted Paris Saint-Germain in their final match of 2024. In this round of 32 of the Coupe de France, the Rouge et Bleu only qualified after a penalty shootout (3-4), after the match had ended in a 1-1 draw at the end of normal time. Les Sang et Or striker Florian Sotoca spoke to beIN SPORTS about the defeat, which means the end of his cup career:
Sotoca: “We know that penalties are cruel, and today it turned out that way for them”.
A near-perfect scenario for RC Lens, but it didn’t go to plan ?
There’s bound to be a lot of disappointment and regret. We rose to the occasion in the second half and were a little timid in the first. In the second half, we put in a very good performance. We were lucky enough to take the lead, but unfortunately we got a goal two or three minutes later, so it hurt our heads. But we held on right to the end. The penalty shoot-out meant we lost tonight.
What did the coach say ?
He was proud, proud of our game. It comes down to nothing. We know that penalties are cruel and today it turned out that way for them. That’s just the way it is. We can hold our heads high, but we’ve got a lot of regrets because we knew that if we faced Paris first, we’d never get to the next round. But that’s life.
