Tomorrow night, on the occasion of France – Kazakhstan, the blue jersey could once again bring together the two brothers from Bayern Munich and AC Milan, Lucas and Theo Hernandez. Two children who, before reaching excellence, grew up without their father, who suddenly became a ghost.

The life of Jean-François Hernandez changed one day in 2001, somewhere in the suburbs of Madrid. Debt-ridden, Lucas and Theo’s father, five and three at the time, evaporates when the bailiffs knock on the door, leaving his wife and children behind. We will see him briefly the following year, leafing through the pages of celebrity newspapers in Spain, where he remarried with TV star Sonia Moldes. Love does not last. In 2004, Jean-François flew to Thailand. We know that he kept a bar there, then his trace was permanently erased.

The resentment was delivered to France Football by the mother, Laurence Py: “No one knew where the father had gone. For them (Lucas and Theo Hernandez Editor’s note), it no longer exists. He never existed. “

At TFC, already a family affair

Jean-François Hernandez did exist, however. In 1989, at the age of 20, he began his professional career at TFC, where the armband adorned Beto Marcico’s arm: “Jean-François, I saw him grow up. It was a new generation, with the Pavons, Debève, who arrived after the departures of Durand, Tarantini … He had a large size, his children do not have the same! He was a solid central defender, physical, who had strong character. We knew he was going to have a great career, ”recalls the Argentine idol. For Anthony Bancarel, he was “THE defender. He was technically good and his head, rough too, it stung in the duels. “

To believe that the fate of Jean-François was predestined, the defender very early had stuck this Hispanic label: “He had this grinta on the field, and this Spanish side in his private life, he liked to laugh,” says Beto Marcico. “There was a Latin side in the Toulouse team at that time, abounds Bancarel. The Pavons, Hernandez, Delpech have transmitted to us the love of the group, of living together. “

The rest of Jean-François Hernandez’s career has confirmed this inclination: “He was born a player in Toulouse, but it was in Spain that he took off,” supports the former Tef scorer. After passing through Sochaux (1994-1995) then Marseille (1995-1998), where Lucas and Theo were born, the father spans the Pyrenees, where he oscillates between Liga and Segunda, wears the shirts of Compostela, Rayo Vallecano and Atlético de Madrid, before hanging up in 2002.

Talking about Jean-François Hernandez with his former teammates at TFC is also opening the door to another era, another football. “After each home game, we ate together, and on Wednesday, one of them we had the task of finding a different restaurant, rewinds Anthony Bancarel. We had our habits, lived time together. We shared more than the locker room, that’s why we were able to do exploits. Jeff also transmitted this state of mind. “

“No one is prepared at the end of a career”

Little by little, life did its work, taking charge of separating one from the other. “Overnight, you’re no longer in a locker room. The family that you had for fifteen years, you lose it, and no one is ever prepared for that, ”blows Anthony Bancarel.

Of families, Jean-François Hernandez left two. His children grew up, Lucas became world champion one evening in July 2018, in Russia. Maybe her father saw this behind a television set somewhere in Thailand. Nobody knows.

“The end of his career, on does not all live the same way, relativizes Bancarel. Everyone is asking questions and has their life to write. Jean-François, it is neither the first nor the last to leave without looking back. “

No judgment either at Beto Marcico, who argues that “everyone makes their own life at the end of their career. “Like everyone else, the Argentinian Sorcerer therefore lives with the memories of Jean-François Hernandez,” a very good teammate and great guy. He swears to have heard, four or five years ago, that the former defender of the Violets is in Spain. He blows: “I would like to have some news …”