Julien Moreau (comments collected by Jacques Vendroux) // Photo credits: JEAN CATUFFE / DPPI via AFP
Captain of the 2018 world champions, Hugo Lloris (36) announced on January 9 that he was drawing a line under the French team, three weeks after the lost World Cup final against Argentina (3- 3, 4-2 TAB), leaving behind the image of a “quiet” and reliable leader, with record longevity. At the microphone of Jacques Vendroux, during the show “Le studio des legendes” on Europe 1, the native of Nice returned to the writing of his biography “Le Monde entre les mains”. The latter retraces his entire career, from his youth to the end with the Blues. “I wanted to tell my story, my experience, my journey. I have been asked several times in my career. I had a short period at the Tottenham side at the end and I think that It was really the right timing to launch this project,” declared the former captain of the France team at the microphone of Europe 1.
Launched in 2008 by Raymond Domenech
A tennis player in his early youth before launching into the world of football, Hugo Lloris did not choose the position of goalkeeper by chance: he retains a certain independence, a certain individualism within the collective. “Next to the tennis club, there was a green space and then we put two chairs and I stood in the middle. Perhaps I already wanted to feel this responsibility, to dive in with my feet. I took a lot of pleasure in that. I think I had a taste for risk, a taste for responsibility, for effort,” said the Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper. This autonomy extends into his career, which he manages without an agent or official advisors, a rarity.
Launched in 2008 by Raymond Domenech, appointed captain by Laurent Blanc in November 2010, after the Knysna fiasco, he kept the competition at bay with strong leadership and remarkable parades. The Niçois played 121 matches for the national team with the captain’s armband on his arm. “When I started in Blue, far from me the idea that I was going to reach these figures. But honestly, it was always an ambition, even very young, to be able to wear this Blues jersey. I took a lot of inspiration of what the generation of 98-2000 did with this title of world champion and European champion”, explained the former international at the microphone of Europe 1.
The latter takes the opportunity to confide in his career references. “My reference was Fabien Barthez who was a legend in his position, even if I was inspired by other goalkeepers like Iker Casillas or Gianluigi Buffon,” revealed the Niçois. “This Blues jersey meant a lot to me and to have been able to realize this dream, it was incredible. And above all, it’s very hard to get there, but the hardest thing is to stay there and to have been able to do it for more than fourteen years, it’s something that I’m proud of when we play at this level, I think we all want to leave a mark,” he said. he adds.
Three finals with the Blues
The Spurs goalkeeper has participated in seven major international tournaments, with three finals: those lost at Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup, and the one won in Russia, the second French star twenty years after that won by The fields. In the Blues guestbook, he appears alongside the greatest goalkeepers, such as Joël Bats and Fabien Barthez, two personalities whom he consulted before making his decision.
Arriving at Tottenham in the summer of 2012 from Lyon, Lloris played 447 matches with Spurs but did not win any titles with them, notably failing in the Champions League final against Liverpool in 2019. “When I sign in 2012, it’s a club that wants to move forward and wants to get closer to the best teams nationally. It’s a club that also has the ambition to compete in the Champions League. They want to become more. competitive by investing in a new stadium, in a training center”, declared Hugo Lloris.
“So there you have it, today, it is an important place in English football, even if we can always criticize it for not winning if it is a club which has developed and which is ultra-competitive today” , wanted to add the former Tottenham goalkeeper. On December 31, French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, 37, said an emotional farewell to the Tottenham club. Since then, the former French international has played for the Los Angeles Galaxy and continues to have an eye on the results of the France team. “Like all French people, we hope for a good victory for the French team. I think it is always important to start a tournament well to gain confidence and then to launch a positive dynamic,” said the Frenchman before the first Blues’ Euro match against Austria.