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Guingamp stuns Rennes for Cup glory

LIGUE 2 side Guingamp stunned Brittany neighbor Stade Rennes to lift the French Cup with a 2-1 victory in Saturday's final at the Stade de France outside Paris.

Eduardo struck both goals for Guingamp, netting the winner eight minutes from time after he had canceled out Carlos Bocanegra's second-half opener for the Ligue 1 side.

Le Havre, in 1959, is the only other second division team to have won the French Cup.

Guingamp, struggling in the bottom half of the second division in 13th place, will go on to play in next season's Europa League, the revamped UEFA Cup.

"My players went for it," said Guingamp coach Victor Zvunka, who won the Cup as a player with Marseille in 1976.

"At the beginning of the second half it was hard but they did not let go," he told reporters.

Rennes had the clearest chance of the first half, playmaker Jerome Leroy hitting the crossbar with a fine 30-meter volley.

It stepped up another gear after the break and Moussa Sow also hit the frame of the goal with a snap shot from 20 meters.

Rennes was rewarded on 69 minutes when US defender Bocanegra headed home from a Bruno Cheyrou free kick but the lead did not last.

Guingamp took advantage of a defensive lapse three minutes later when Eduardo netted from close range after connecting with a long cross from Felipe Saad.

Brazilian Eduardo doubled his tally with seven minutes remaining when he beat Nicolas Douchez with an angled shot from inside the box.

Rennes had not conceded a single goal en route to Saturday's showdown in front of an 80,000 crowd. "It is amazing. We played together, we gave everything," Eduardo said.

Rennes is seventh in the French top tier and still chasing a European spot.





 

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