“We know what he did for us”: the Lyonnaises dedicated their victory in the Coupe de France to Aulas

2023-05-13 20:37:52

Tears as if raining. Even the great and solid captain of OL Wendie Renard had the greatest difficulty in containing her emotions when discussing the long career of its president, Jean-Michel Aulas. The leader, who will leave the hand in a week to the Americans John Textor for the men’s section and Michele Kang for the women, was the man of the final, Saturday afternoon in Orleans. And the Lyonnaises did everything to make him happy, dominating PSG (2-1) to win a tenth Coupe de France.

“He’s a hell of a character, smiles Wendie Renard, her eyes moist, after the meeting. We wanted to win for him. I still remember my debut at OL and I see where we are today. We owe him a lot. And when we saw his condition before the match, it affected us all. I said to myself: there is no way, we have to win”.

“I am a happy man”

Tears streamed down the face of Jean-Michel Aulas as soon as the teams were presented before this Coupe de France final. A strong image for this 74-year-old leader.

From the presentation of the teams, Jean-Michel Aulas (here with Wendie Renard) could not hold back his tears. Icon Sport/Anthony Dibon

“When you give 36 years of your life to football, it’s not easy to leave what you love the most, sighs the main interested party. I am a happy man. I hear them sing (“Jean-Michel Aulas, we will win everything for you”). It is heartwarming. It allows you to climb mountains and, afterwards, to rest peacefully”.

Rest assured, Jean-Michel Aulas is fine. And if he leaves OL, he still intends to “give everything for women’s football”. His future could pass the presidency of the future women’s professional league.

But the emotions were such this Saturday that we had, indeed, sometimes the impression of paying homage to a deceased. “My role was to protect the players, confides Sonia Bompastor, OL coach. The week has been full of emotions. But to share them, you first had to win. We dedicate this victory to him, of course.” Only Gérard Prêcheur, whose adventure in Lyon (2014-2017) ended badly, did not wish to speak on “JMA”.

For Wendie Renard, with a lump in her throat, wisdom was in order: “You don’t know him like we do. And I can tell you it’s someone. Humanly… (she pauses). It’s a man ! With many values. It can leave a negative image sometimes. But we know what he did for us. We know what it is, what it will always be. He will always have my respect, until the end of my days, my last breath.