Throughout today ten French teams will battle it out for a place in the last eight of the Coupe de France. Last night the well fancied Stade Rennes were surprisingly dumped out by Ligue 2 side Reims. With the game poised at three all Rennes were awarded and missed two penalties, and of course then lost the game 4-3 in extra time.

Everyone likes a shock and last night’s was good but there is one team that everyone should be looking out for today. Sochaux after their fantastic 5-1 demolition of Rennes at the weekend make the daunting trip to the small town of Chambéry. Why “daunting” I hear you ask?

At the beginning of the year Chambéry had performed miracles and earned their place in the draw with the other 63 teams left in the competition. The draw was made and Monaco were drawn as their next opponents. Although struggling in Ligue 1 the Monegasques were easily strong favourites, Chambéry currently play in the CFA2 – France’s fifth tier. With about 150 teams separating the two sides, everyone’s money was on Guy Lacombe’s men turning over the minnows.

Played at Chambéry’s 3,500 capacity Stade Municipal de Chambéry, there was always going to be the chance of a shock, and after five minutes the dream was very much alive. The part-time footballers dressed in yellow went on the attack; venturing down the right the ball was cut back and Thomas Dubard gave his team the dream start, tucking the ball past the diving Stephane Ruffier.

Monaco responded well, Chris Malonga poking the ball under Guillaume Bemenou to save the once Champions League finalists blushes. Everyone of course expected Monaco to go on and win the game easily; however the cup gods were watching with intent. After extra-time the scores remained level and the game would be decided by penalties. Surely now the experience professionals would rise to the top and the minnows would crumble under the pressure?

Igor Lolo and Laurent Bonnart scored Monaco’s first two penalties, Daniel Niculae, Jean-Jacques Gosso and Sebastien Puygrenier all then stepped up and failed to find the back of the net. It was then left to 26 year old Remy Sahinovic, until then an unknown quantity playing his football in the French lower divisions, time to become a hero. He looked calmness personified as he placed his penalty high into the corner of the net, his teammates mobbed him and the capacity crowd went ballistic, they had achieved the impossible.

Next up was Ligue 1 surprise package, Brest. The win against Monaco was wonderful but surely Alex Dupont’s team would not make the same mistake and discount the team from the mountain town of Chambéry, right? Wrong!!! The game went to the wire, Brest didn’t take the lead until the 111 ^th minute through Bruno Grougi’s shot from outside the area, the dream looked over.

With minutes to go Chambéry went on the attack, the ball was lofted high into the box, Brest failed to clear their lines, a shot flashed across the goal, it was block unintentionally by substitute Maodo Malick Faye, he managed to turn in the box and fire the ball into the net, the dream was back on. Once a hero back in 2009 with a hat-trick in the cup against Jeanne d’Arc, he was a hero again. Could they win the cruel lottery that is the penalty shoot-out?

Brest started well Ahmed Kantari, Tomas Micola, and goal scorer Grougi would convert their kicks, then Larsen Toure and Omar Daf missed. Once again the spotlight would turn on Sahinovic, same player…same finish, placed into the top corner; Sahinovic had fired his team into the last 16.

When the draw was made I’m sure the people of Chambéry would have liked a smaller club, maybe have a chance to reach the Quarter-Finals, but of course the cup gods had other ideas, if Chambéry are to do the impossible they will need to do it the hard way. Sochaux were picked out the hat and Francis Gillot’s side will face the now difficult trip to what is fast becoming a Ligue 1 graveyard.

The last time Chambéry had anything like a successful cup run was back in 1945; they reached the last 32 of the same competition, and nearly cause an upset. Taking on Marseille, with five minutes to go they found themselves 3-2 up on the French giants. Two unfortunate defensive errors cost them dearly and Marseille escaped with a 4-3 win.

Throughout their 85 year history the team in yellow and black have flirted between the CFA, CFA2 and the Regional divisions and before this year the cup run back in 1945 was their only success to note. From a town with a population of only 70,000 it is difficult to see them ever making it up the divisions, so when they get their moment in the sun it is great to see them basking in its glow.

With today’s cup games spread throughout the day, there will be a few extra eyes looking for this score to come through. Chambéry will be closed for business today as the home side try and cram as many fans as possible into the Stade Municipal.

Sochaux remain the favourites, and after their impressive victory over Rennes at the weekend it is hard to see past them today. Cups are made for shocks though; the fates of Monaco and Brest should be enough to plant a seed of doubt in the Sochaux players’ minds.

They couldn’t possibly cause an upset again….could they?