Diyaeddine Abzi

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 10/30/2022 at 1:17 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

They will host US Colomiers Foot (5th tier) in the 8th round on Saturday, November 19th.

I was wrong, the match was away @  Colomiers.

Pau won yesterday but Abzi wasn't in the lineup at all. Anybody know why?

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Pau will host Montpellier of Ligue 1 in the Coupe de France in early January.

It would be lovely to see Abzi start that match; it would be a true top level test.

[jordan]

On 11/20/2022 at 2:02 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

I was wrong, the match was away @  Colomiers.

Pau won yesterday but Abzi wasn't in the lineup at all. Anybody know why?

From the news 

"Quang Hai is a victim of the new tactic. Like defender Diyaeddine Abzi, he needs more time to meet Ligue 2 standards," the newspaper wrote.

 

Also the club moved to a 3-5-2

 

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/football/vietnam-star-midfielder-among-lowest-rated-players-at-french-club-4537171.html

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 11/21/2022 at 3:02 PM, jordan said:

"Like defender Diyaeddine Abzi, he needs more time to meet Ligue 2 standards,"

The jump from CanPL to Ligue 2 is a big one I suppose.

Abzi got some minutes as a sub during the previous match on Monday (Boxing Day) but today he is not in the starting XI or on the bench despite being  amongst those who travelled to Niort.

Is he slowly getting "Justin Smith"ed? 

Their next match is the one in the Cup vs Ligue 1 side Montpellier and obviously it would be cool to see him play during that one.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Not in the Starting XI against Ligue 1 side Montpellier.

Not sure if he is on the bench but he was included in their gameday squad.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[jordan]

3 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Not in the Starting XI against Ligue 1 side Montpellier.

Not sure if he is on the bench but he was included in their gameday squad.

Is on the bench

[Obinna]

Going from starting in the CPL to sitting on the bench against a Ligue 1 side is a deal most CPL players would take, I imagine.

[narduch]

48 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Not in the Starting XI against Ligue 1 side Montpellier.

Not sure if he is on the bench but he was included in their gameday squad.

He's basically been used as a sub for awhile now 

[narduch]

Subbed on in the 75th minute of a 2-1 upset win.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

40 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

Abzi on at 75' and Pau go back on top at 81'. Hopefully they can hold on

26 minutes ago, narduch said:

Subbed on in the 75th minute of a 2-1 upset win.

26 minutes ago, narduch said:

Will be interesting to see who they draw.

As much as I booed him on the field when York came to play in Ottawa, I am really happy for him.

Getting to play ~20 minutes in a victory against a Ligue 1 side is nothing to scoff at!  

 

@narduch, the draw will be this Sunday at ~2pm EST.

 

Edit:

Does anyone know if he was involved in the play that led to Pau's 2nd goal?

Edited January 6, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Unnamed Trialist]

3 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

As much as I booed him on the field when York came to play in Ottawa, I am really happy for him.

Getting to play ~20 minutes in a victory against a Ligue 1 side is nothing to scoff at!  

 

@narduch, the draw will be this Sunday at ~2pm EST.

 

Edit:

Does anyone know if he was involved in the play that led to Pau's 2nd goal?

Geez, I saw the goal on a Twitter thread, then trying to check Abzi's shirt number, I've lost it. I did find out that in the first round of the Cup in late October, vs. Aigues Mortes away, he had a goal and an assist, 0-3 win. Did we even know that?

He was not involved in the goal. It was a play where they pushed forward up the right, the mid got past his defender up the wing, had space, crossed, and the Montpellier defender almost scored an own goal clearing wildly. Keeper stops it desperately, Pau striker puts in the rebound.

This is a very big deal in the French sports press, the biggest upset in the round. Pau and Montpellier play a lot against each other, with an intense rivalry--but in rugby.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Unnamed Trialist

[Unnamed Trialist]

Got it! Abzi is the left back, no. 14, as the guy pushes up the right you see him move forward on the opposite side; then he's the first guy to the goal scorer celebrating, with the beard and pony tail.

BTW this is a pic and article on his match in an earlier Cup round where he scored and assisted

https://www.larepubliquedespyrenees.fr/sport/football/coupe-de-france/coupe-de-france-le-pau-fc-qualifie-pour-le-8e-tour-12786161.php

Edited January 6, 2023 by Unnamed Trialist

[narduch]

9 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Got it! Abzi is the left back, no. 14, as the guy pushes up the right you see him move forward on the opposite side; then he's the first guy to the goal scorer celebrating, with the beard and pony tail.

BTW this is a pic and article on his match in an earlier Cup round where he scored and assisted

https://www.larepubliquedespyrenees.fr/sport/football/coupe-de-france/coupe-de-france-le-pau-fc-qualifie-pour-le-8e-tour-12786161.php

Ŧhanks for finding this.

Abzi scored in the 7th round match you mentioned above. That was the round that Pau entered in.

In the 8th round he did not play but Pau still won and advanced.

This is now the 9th round but is officially called the Round of 64 (based on Wiki).

The Coupe de France is a wild tournament. Teams from French territories around the World take part. There are Concacaf club teams that take part in it!

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Got it! Abzi is the left back, no. 14...

I thought they had assigned him the N°2 jersey but the guy in that jersey number is certainly not him!

Edited January 6, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Unnamed Trialist]

37 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

I thought they had assigned him the N°2 jersey but the guy in that jersey number is certainly not him!

I was confused too. He even appears on a tweet by Montpellier giving starters and subs, as #2. So who knows, now he's 14.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Got it! Abzi is the left back, no. 14, as the guy pushes up the right you see him move forward on the opposite side; then he's the first guy to the goal scorer celebrating, with the beard and pony tail.

BTW this is a pic and article on his match in an earlier Cup round where he scored and assisted

https://www.larepubliquedespyrenees.fr/sport/football/coupe-de-france/coupe-de-france-le-pau-fc-qualifie-pour-le-8e-tour-12786161.php

Mayron George is a Costa Rican international, by the way. 

[narduch]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I was confused too. He even appears on a tweet by Montpellier giving starters and subs, as #2. So who knows, now he's 14.

I think I know what happened. 

Looks like the starters have to wear 1-11 in the Coupe de France.

Another weird quirk is all teams wear one of 2 tournament jersey sponsors. Not their normal sponsor.

For example this was PSG today with Betclic instead of Qatar Airways

Edited January 7, 2023 by narduch

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

16 minutes ago, narduch said:

Ugbo has the start.

So does David

Pau will travel to the winner of this Lille vs Troyes match later this month!

Edited January 8, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

23 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Pau will travel to the winner of this Lille vs Troyes match later this month!

The Lille vs Pau match will be Sunday, January 22nd at 12h30 EST.

https://www.fff.fr/article/9257-16es-de-finale-la-programmation-tv.html

Edited January 9, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[narduch]

Just now, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

The Lille vs Pau match will be Sunday, January 22nd at 12h30 EST.

Hopefully BeIn picks this one up

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

The Lille vs Pau match will be Sunday, January 22nd at 12h30 EST.

https://www.fff.fr/article/9257-16es-de-finale-la-programmation-tv.html

Interesting one for NT fans....

Do we want Lille to win, so that David can advance? More games, more potential goals, higher chance of getting sold to a better club.

Or do we want Pau to win, so that Abzi can advance. More games, more potential experience, higher chance of getting a NT call.

[Unnamed Trialist]

20 hours ago, Obinna said:

Interesting one for NT fans....

Do we want Lille to win, so that David can advance? More games, more potential goals, higher chance of getting sold to a better club.

Or do we want Pau to win, so that Abzi can advance. More games, more potential experience, higher chance of getting a NT call.

Lille win. Better to see them go deeper into the Coupe, David keeps scoring, the team gets into a European spot at least in the league. 

Pau is happy to just be there and Abzi has time to find his place at that level.

[Obinna]

5 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Lille win. Better to see them go deeper into the Coupe, David keeps scoring, the team gets into a European spot at least in the league. 

Pau is happy to just be there and Abzi has time to find his place at that level.

It's probably the right call to root for our guy David to go deep and keep scoring. Lille can (and should) go deep in the Coupe, whereas if Abzi and Pau did upset Lille I wouldn't bet on lightning striking twice.  

Good point on Pau and Abzi too. Getting to play in back-to-back Cup matches against Ligue 1 opposition is a nice cherry on top of what's been a good season thus far. It's only his first season, and the jump from being a starter in the CPL to a being a somewhat regular substitute (with even a few starts mixed in) is pretty impressive, so this has already been a great start to life in France, and the season is not even over yet. I hope there is more to come from him, and I feel there will be.

The question for me is - do we see him for the national team? The jump up he's made has been impressive, but he has roughly half the minutes as Adekugbe this season, and (more importantly) Adekugbe is a cemented member of the team, so Abzi won't get called over him, even though he's arguably now at the level where we at least bring him into national team camp.

Several of his teammates appear to be their national team pools, such as Jovan Nisic (Serbia), Mayron George (Costa Rica), and Sessi D'Almeida (Benin). According to Wiki, there's also players who have won caps for the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Congo and more. There's even Vietnamese talisman Nguyen Quang. It's a very interesting mix of players and certainly they aren't a team of scrubs. Abzi is contributing within this group. I want to see us bring him in, if we have the opportunity, but finding the opportunity may be difficult, especially if Herdman is not willing to rotate. Maybe some fall friendlies?

[InglewoodJack]

2 hours ago, Obinna said:

It's probably the right call to root for our guy David to go deep and keep scoring. Lille can (and should) go deep in the Coupe, whereas if Abzi and Pau did upset Lille I wouldn't bet on lightning striking twice.  

Good point on Pau and Abzi too. Getting to play in back-to-back Cup matches against Ligue 1 opposition is a nice cherry on top of what's been a good season thus far. It's only his first season, and the jump from being a starter in the CPL to a being a somewhat regular substitute (with even a few starts mixed in) is pretty impressive, so this has already been a great start to life in France, and the season is not even over yet. I hope there is more to come from him, and I feel there will be.

The question for me is - do we see him for the national team? The jump up he's made has been impressive, but he has roughly half the minutes as Adekugbe this season, and (more importantly) Adekugbe is a cemented member of the team, so Abzi won't get called over him, even though he's arguably now at the level where we at least bring him into national team camp.

Several of his teammates appear to be their national team pools, such as Jovan Nisic (Serbia), Mayron George (Costa Rica), and Sessi D'Almeida (Benin). According to Wiki, there's also players who have won caps for the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Congo and more. There's even Vietnamese talisman Nguyen Quang. It's a very interesting mix of players and certainly they aren't a team of scrubs. Abzi is contributing within this group. I want to see us bring him in, if we have the opportunity, but finding the opportunity may be difficult, especially if Herdman is not willing to rotate. Maybe some fall friendlies?

I don't think he has played enough minutes to earn a cap- I think he's played 3 90s (including his first two games at Pau), and only a few other appearances above like 25 minutes, but from what I've watched of him, he's played well, and I hope that he sticks with Pau or elsewhere in Ligue 2 next year- I think he could earn some caps if he played regularly.

Ligue 2 isn't a scrub league by any means, but in terms of nationally capped played, Nisic was only capped in friendlies, while he was still playing in serbia, and hasn't been capped in 2 years, and George has mostly played in friendlies and some concacaf minnows (one game vs. Mexico though). Quang is a good mention- I follow Pau on social media, and if people think Canadians are bad when it comes to gassing up our players for literally anything they do, as soon as Pau signed Quang, they got bombarded by comments from Vietnamese fans who were so excited that their guy was finally going to Europe- I think he's one of, if not the first Vietnamese player to sign a contract with a European club. No clue how good he is, but it seems like he's a massive deal in Vietnam, I hope he pans out.

[Obinna]

15 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

I don't think he has played enough minutes to earn a cap- I think he's played 3 90s (including his first two games at Pau), and only a few other appearances above like 25 minutes, but from what I've watched of him, he's played well, and I hope that he sticks with Pau or elsewhere in Ligue 2 next year- I think he could earn some caps if he played regularly.

Ligue 2 isn't a scrub league by any means, but in terms of nationally capped played, Nisic was only capped in friendlies, while he was still playing in serbia, and hasn't been capped in 2 years, and George has mostly played in friendlies and some concacaf minnows (one game vs. Mexico though). Quang is a good mention- I follow Pau on social media, and if people think Canadians are bad when it comes to gassing up our players for literally anything they do, as soon as Pau signed Quang, they got bombarded by comments from Vietnamese fans who were so excited that their guy was finally going to Europe- I think he's one of, if not the first Vietnamese player to sign a contract with a European club. No clue how good he is, but it seems like he's a massive deal in Vietnam, I hope he pans out.

Very fair take. I kind of agree with you. As eager as I am to get Abzi into the program, there's a good argument that he hasn't done enough quite yet. Although players like Nisic and George are on the fringes of Serbia and Costa Rica respectively, at least they have caps, right? Maybe the fact that Abzi doesn't is more to do with the fact Canada is awful at lining up friendly matches?

Funny enough, Abzi has roughly the same number of minutes as George, and actually has more minutes than Nisic. He has more minutes than Quang, too. I get the argument it's still not enough, but it's kind of interesting how the Canadian of this group is the one without caps. In the past, any youngish Canadian at a respectable level would have amassed dozens of caps by now, just because our program has historically been weak. Just look at how many caps Quang has for Vietnam at the age of 25 (50-something).

I remember watching Vietnam play in the AFC Asian Cup in 2019 (not live, but on TV). I believe they were playing against Japan. There was one midfielder who stood out as being a cut above the rest - and I believe it was him. He's their star I believe, which is why those fans were crazy about him. I got major Wu Lei vibes reading your comments on that.