Lyon coach Remi Garde paid tribute to amateurs Quevilly after his team won the Coupe de France final 1-0 on Saturday.
Striker Lisandro Lopez netted a 28th-minute winner at Stade de France, seeing Lyon to their first trophy since 2008.
Garde, whose team sit fourth in Ligue 1, praised the giant-killing third-tier side for their run and performance in the final.
It is a team who beat Angers, Rennes and Marseille, so they showed potential, Garde said.
I think we respected them all and took them seriously, and we did well because even If we had a lot of chances, in second half in particular they put us under pressure.
But I congratulate them for their great final in a good mood as well. Both teams played the game in the right spirit, that s what the referee told me.
Lyon clinched their fifth Coupe de France crown thanks to Lopez s first-half goal, with the Argentine tapping in an Alexandre Lacazette cross.
Attacker Jimmy Briand said he was pleased with the respect Lyon showed to Quevilly, and added he was focused on catching third-placed Lille in the league.
We played properly and we played well. We respected what our coach told us, we did respect the team of Quevilly, he said.
We want to play other games like this one and it is going to give us a boost for the end of the season by trying to look for Lille in the table.
Quevilly coach Regis Brouard said he was proud of his players despite their dream run coming to an end in the decider.
There is no reason to be sad or disappointed. We did well with what we ve got again They were stronger than us, Brouard said.
It is not so much disappointment but just a little of frustration. It is normal.
But we have to come back to the real word now and to congratulate Lyon, who totally deserved to win.
