🇬🇵-🇲🇶 "It's the same as Barcelona-Madrid" Guadeloupe, Martinique prepare for rare Classique doubleheader

The overseas regions of France are set to meet twice in five days in a match both teams prioritize.

Any soccer fan can rattle off the nicknames of the best rivalry matches. Barcelona-Real Madrid is El Clásico, PSG-Marseille meet in Le Classique. Internationally, the names aren’t as snappy, but we’ve all enjoyed tense matches between Argentina-Brazil, Japan-South Korea or USA-Mexico.

Who contests the Classique of the Caribbean? That one tests even the most ardent subscribers of this newsletter.

The infrequently contested rivalry between Guadeloupe and Martinique is scheduled to take place twice in five days, with the teams meeting in Concacaf Nations League League A action, with both hoping to get into the Gold Cup and potentially even get into the Nations League Final Four.

“For Guadeloupe, it’s the derby,” Guadeloupe forward Thierry Ambrose told me in a phone interview this week. “I think everybody knows it’s the same as when you play for Barcelona and play against Madrid. It’s the Classique of the Caribbean, for us, so we have to give everything to make the island proud.”

Martinique midfielder Kévin Appin feels the same, though he was careful to note it’s not a rivalry built on hate or animosity.

“The rivalry between us and Guadeloupe is always one with a lot of respect,” he told me Friday. “The ‘worst’ thing that comes out of it is wanting to be better than the other to have that pride and be able to say we’re better.

“We’re culturally similar in a lot of things and of course have respect for the team because they have really good players. But we want to be better than them and win this game.”

Appin playing for Martinique (via his Instagram)

The new format of Concacaf Nations League has allowed these rivals to come together much more frequently than they did in the past. The teams have met in friendly matches twice since the pandemic and also played in the 2019 Nations League. But prior to that, the teams had met just four times in the 21st century.

Martinique leads the series since then with four wins, two losses and a draw - though Guadeloupe is better situated to get out of the group, beating Suriname in September after an away loss in Costa Rica.

Martinique and Guadeloupe remain overseas regions of France, and since they remain part of the French Football Federation, they are members of Concacaf but not FIFA.

While that quirky status leads to some oddball soccer moments, those designations can lead to far more serious repercussions in the real world.

This week, one person was killed in Martinique as riots erupted after protests against the high cost of living, with food prices in Martinique 40 percent higher than in mainland France, according to the AFP. Protests continued Thursday, with authorities closing the international airport after protesters ran onto the tarmac amidst rumors a flight full of police officers from the mainland were set to arrive.

Martinique’s prefect has put a 9 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew in place and said it is banning protests. It remains to be seen how that will affect Tuesday’s match, which is set to kick off at 8 p.m. local time in the Stade Pierre Aliker in Fort-de-France.

A family navigates an intersection with the remains of a burnt car after September protests in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Protests have intensified this week, leading to the closure of the airport and a curfew being put into place. (Photo by ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)

Apart from the political moments, French investigative journalist Romain Molina this month turned his lens on the federations that run soccer in Guadeloupe and Martinique, exposing — as he often does — irregularities in the way funds are spent and elections are undertaken.

Those external factors are important, but the players on the field see their role as national team players in a different context.

Appin was born in Marseille and now plays with Burgos in the Spanish Second Division, yet each international window he boards a series of flights to join up with Les Matinino.

“For me, being able to represent your country is everything. It’s the best thing that can happen to an athlete. It doesn’t matter at all to me if I have to travel 10 hours,” Appin said. “Some people say it’s a problem, but I’m focused on helping my country’s team. Every time they call me, I’ll try to go with all the will in the world.”

Ambrose was born to two parents from Guadeloupe in Sens, a city in northern France. “I make them proud when I wear the shirt,” he says.

For those teams - and French Guiana, another Concacaf member with the same status - making a deep run in a tournament like the Nations League or getting to the Gold Cup is a statement: We may not be a country, but we can hang with the best in the region.

The path is particularly clear for Guadeloupe. Win both rivalry contests and see Costa Rica and Guatemala draw on the last day, and they’d be into the Nations League quarterfinals against an opponent like the U.S., Canada or Mexico.

“We can play against some crazy teams, and for Guadeloupe it’d be huge to play teams like this,” Ambrose said. “For now, the objective is to focus on the first game. Then, we’ll see.

“Then, the objective is to be competitive against teams like this and make the island proud.”

Ambrose playing for Guadeloupe (via Instagram)

And there’s no better route to making fans proud than getting a rivalry win.

“Players, fans, everybody. When you play against Martinique, you always want to be better than them,” Ambrose said. “Everything you do, you want to be better than them. Now, playing the first game at home - we need to be the best team.”

It doesn’t come around as often as El Clásico or Le Classique, but that makes the urgency even stronger.