Almost home. Tuesday evening, while executing his long slide to celebrate Brest’s opening score against PSV Eindhoven, what could Julien Le Cardinal have been thinking? Qualifying for the next round of the Champions League? To his father, his wife, his two-year-old son present at the Roudourou stadium? During this 2017-2018 season, when he played in National 2 at home at Stade Briochin, 38 km from Guingamp? No, he only thought of his mother, who left five years ago and to whom he had long wanted to dedicate a goal. He chose the right evening. In the stand, his family exults, embraces, kisses and knows how beautiful the story of the man who played on the right side that evening is.
Before this new night of European magic of which he was one of the heroes, the Brest defender experienced amateur football, the double life between crampons and work, a busy schedule, struggles before a meteoric rise. At the age of 20, when his career was just launching, Le Cardinal took on odd jobs: first as an order picker in a warehouse, then a pizza maker and salesman at the Saint-Brieuc station (Côtes-d’Armor), he even knew experience in a Breton crepe factory and finally as a forklift driver. Financially, the end of the month is complicated: 150 euros in compensation from the club and around 1,100 euros in salary.