FC Ferrand and its President Vincent Vasapolli were crowned 2013 Futsal Super League champions in a thrilling last match day and recently added the New Caledonia futsal Cup. Ferrand is the first team in New Caledonian futsal history to achieve a double and oceaniafootball.com sat down with Vasapolli to learn more about this successful season.
OFC: FC Ferrand became the first ever club to win the Championship and the Cup the same season. How do you feel about this performance?
Vincent Vasapolli: This is an unbelievable performance. It is the first time a club wins both titles the same season. When I have created the club in 2003 I had a dream to live this one day. Now, 10 years after the dream comes true. We won our first Championship in 2008 and we stayed five years without winning any trophies. This success is an addition of a hard work and a lot of passion from all the staff and the players.
OFC: What are the key moments of the season which have impacted positively your team into the race of the Championship and the Cup?
Vincent Vasapolli: Our success has been built through the players who were more rigorous, consistent and solidary. We also managed well the games between the other big teams. But in the Championship, the loss against CHT has been a key moment. We had two bad performances against Universite (loss 7-6) and Olympique (draw 3-3) and the loss against CHT, who was at the bottom of the table, was too much for us. We all met on the following Monday after training. We talked to each other with all honesty.
Also, two players left the team to go back to France and I called back two players who played for us before. Our confidence came back and since this moment, everything went better and we won all of our games.
OFC: FC Ferrand became champions of the New Caledonia futsal Super Ligue on the last match day. Can you tell us more about that day?
Vincent Vasapolli: Fantastic like that will never happen again! We were second with one point behind Universite. We needed to win our last game to keep all our chances alive. We did it with a 4-3 final score against Kartiers Nord. On the other side Universite needed a win to be crowned so they had all the cards in their hands. They played Olympique who were third on the table and wanted to keep their ranks. Olympique played at their best that day to finish square 5-5 with Universite. This result was enough to allow us to win the championship.
I remember that earlier that day I went to the futsal arena for a final check due to my duties as President of the national league organisational committee with the hopes of an amazing ending for us in the corner of my head.
OFC: How did you experience the game between Universite and Olympique who played after you on the last Super Ligue match day?
Vincent Vasapolli: That was the most stressful and thrilling game I have ever watched! Both teams needed a win at the start of the game. The game was really open. Universite did control that match better and was leading 4-2 with only 1’30 to play. At this time, I thought all was over for us. Universite started to commit more fouls and Olympique scored twice and came back to 4-4. Suddenly the situation turned in our favour and if the result stayed that way, we are champions! But Universite scored again to lead 5-4 and this time we thought we wouldn’t be champions but Olympique equalised in the last 10 seconds to end the game 5-5. We couldn’t just believe what happened. It is the best ending to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our club.
OFC: What are the objectives for next season?
Vincent Vasapolli: Our first main objective is to keep our trophies. We will also try to play more games against teams from overseas like Vanuatu and Tahiti. We are going to the TIFE Futsal World Cup next June in France.
For more on New Caledonia football go to www.fedcalfoot.com