On Tuesday, Lens and his brilliant Saudi defender, Saud Abdel Hamid, will face a new test in the context of his campaign to achieve his fans’ dream of holding the first French Cup in its history. One step away from the title, it faces the Toulouse club in the semi-finals, which it defeated 3-2 a few days ago. In the second confrontation, Strasbourg will face Nice on Wednesday.
Published on: 04/21/2026 - 12:28
On Tuesday, Lens, accompanied by its brilliant Saudi defender Saud Abdel Hamid, will host the Toulouse club in the semi-finals of the French Football Cup, which it recently defeated by three goals to two in the local league.
Lens aspires to achieve an unprecedented double in its history, as it is still a strong competitor in the league, trailing in second place, one point behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, which played one less match (63 vs. 62), with 5 rounds remaining.
The fans of the "Blood and Gold" team (named after Looney Lens) have been waiting for many years and with great passion for the players to lift the local cup for the first time.
Team captain Florian Sotoka says with a smile, “It is true that we receive some comments about this at the beginning of every season, when we start the French Cup. We hope to make history with this wonderful club.”
At the beginning of the season, and after Saint-Germain's early exit at the hands of its neighbor Paris FC in January, the club made the local cup its main goal, eliminating the competition for the league title, which it won for the only time in 1998.
Lens's shares rose in reaching the final match of the cup, which will be held at the "Stade de France", after it succeeded in overturning a two-goal deficit in the first 13 minutes to a deserved victory, following a dramatic comeback in the last moments at its "Poulart-Delis" stadium against Toulouse, in a match that saw the visiting team's striker Yann Gboho sent off.
Sotoka (36 years old) confirms, saying, “We arrive with a positive mentality and strong determination, especially after Friday’s victory, which was decisive for us emotionally and psychologically. We have everything we need to live a special experience.” He added, warning, “We have to be more careful in the first quarter of an hour,” referring to the two goals that Lens conceded as a result of individual errors.
Sotoka, along with Jonathan Grady (33 years old) and Wesley Saeed (31 years old), lived Lens’ best years under the leadership of former coach Frank Eze, even if their records remained devoid of titles.
This represents a golden opportunity for coach Pierre Sage's players, who, according to him, gained a "real psychological advantage" by facing Cup winners Toulouse three years ago.
The 46-year-old coach continued, "What happened Friday is positive for us. I have mixed feelings, because I told them two things yesterday: We have to remember that we were the team that trailed by two clean goals after a quarter of an hour, and this requires humility, and we must also remember that we may be playing a historic match, and this requires ambition."
True to his principles of constant pressure on the opponent, Sage wants to see his players “do their best to win” from the first whistle, thus reaching the French Cup final for the first time since 1998, to meet the winner between Strasbourg and Nice, who meet on Wednesday.
France 24/AFP
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