YANNICK FARAUT Football Interview by Frédéric Potet
Published on June 18, 2024, at 4:00 am (Paris), updated on June 18, 2024, at 5:54 am Subscribers only
Interview’I wouldn’t be here if…’ Every week, Le Monde interviews a public figure about a decisive moment in their life. The former France goalkeeper stresses the importance of his grandparents in his pursuit of excellence.
With a record 145 appearances for the French national team, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris looks back on his career as a professional footballer, which took him from OGC Nice to Olympique Lyonnais, then from London club Tottenham to Los Angeles FC, where he currently plays at the age of 37. With Euro 2024 kicking off, the retired captain of Les Bleus has published an autobiography, Le Monde Entre les Mains (“The World In My Hands”).
Fill in the blank: I wouldn’t be here if…
… If my family hadn’t helped me stay on track. I learned discipline from them at a very early age, if only by watching my parents’ career. They were a source of inspiration. Seeing your parents get up early in the morning and come home late at night influences you. I benefited from the social ladder thanks to their work. Until I was 10, we lived in a working-class neighborhood in the north of Nice; their success allowed us to move to a residential area.
It’s often been said that you grew up in a privileged environment.
That doesn’t reflect reality. To put it simply, my father started out in a bank at the bottom of the ladder before rising through the ranks to become one of its directors. He went on to work for several of Monaco’s leading banks. My mother, on the other hand, had my sister when she was very young, which slowed down her studies. She also started out on the bottom rung of a Monaco law firm, before being given significant responsibilities. Both were passionate about their work, yet they still managed to give their children the best possible upbringing.
How did football fit into your family environment?
In our family, we mostly played tennis, a sport my grandmother practiced for a long time at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. It’s thanks to her, as well as my father, that I got a taste for the little yellow ball. It was actually on a court at the Tennis Club des Combes in Nice that I made my first dives. When the club’s restaurant owner saw me, he advised me to try football with one of his friends, who was a teacher. I juggled the two disciplines before giving up tennis when I signed for OGC Nice at the age of 8. Back then, there were four or five training sessions a week and matches every weekend. My mother felt that football was taking her son away from her.
Did your grandfather really sign you up for an OGC Nice scouting camp without your parents knowing?
Yes. My parents relied heavily on my grandparents, who, purely by chance, lived just across the road from the OGC Nice training center. Very early on, my grandfather was extremely demanding with me on the pitch, so much so that I wanted to give up football. Eventually, I got the upper hand mentally, which made me stronger. And I also became very demanding with myself. I’ve never lost sight of that since.
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