It’s quite astounding how athletes who have proclaimed tremendous talent are how they can ruin their careers from one moment to the next by falling from the gates of stardom to poverty. The career of former Juventus footballer Vincent Pericard could have turned out quite differently, as a huge future was predicted in the early 2000s, but he was fired from the Turin team for a harmless sms. After the turn of events, his life took such a downturn that he was imprisoned twice, and at the age of 28 he was forced to retire because of his mental problems.
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Vincent Pericard was born in Cameroon and then moved to France with his mother and stepfather at the age of four. It was here that he began his football career after signing for Saint-Étienne at the age of just six. The striker toured the French club’s youth teams and was then able to introduce himself as an adult at the age of 17. However, it was enough to play on the French cutting edge in just two matches to pique Juventus ’interest. In 2000, the Turin star team bought the excellence of the French U17 national team for about two hundred thousand euros. In addition to Pericard, the Italian band also bought the playing rights of Frantz Bertin and Aboubacar Fofana from the French.
At the time, there were stars in Juventus like Zinedine Zidane, David Trezeguet, Edgar Davids, Pavel Nedved or Alessandro Del Piero.
“I was aware of my abilities and that I was good, but I never thought I would have a chance to play in a club as big as Juventus. I had a couple of matches at Saint-Étienne and then I was spotted in a youth national team tournament at Juventus. I remember just graduating, my stepfather went to Turin in his car. I didn’t feel any pressure, although in retrospect I might have been too young and naive. I trained almost immediately with the first team, everyone was very helpful. I remember Zidane walking past me with the ball as easily as if he had just flown, and Del Piero’s ball touches were flawless. I was able to keep up with these quality players, which made me feel like I belonged to Juventus, ”Pericard recalled.
The young player spent his first season with Juve’s second team, however, after becoming a goal scorer, he also got the chance to prove himself among the big ones the following season. Marcello Lippi, then head coach of Juventus, sent the attacker to the pitch in March 2002 in a Champions League match against Arsenal. Pericard’s future no doubt looked bright, then an SMS changed everything.
The three former Saint-Étienne players, Pericard, Fofana and Bertin, decided one night to go have fun, but since neither of them spoke Italian, they thought they would call in an interpreter for a girlfriend at the time from a Juventus board member. Pericard sent a message to the woman, and a few minutes later the headmaster called her on the phone and questioned her. He had no idea at the time, but this sms got into his Turin career. Namely, a few days after the incident, all three players were lent. Pericard joined the English second division Portsmouth team then led by Harry Redknapp.
“One of the directors called me to his office and told me I was going to England. My career at Juventus was over. I didn’t know anything about England, I didn’t speak English, plus I didn’t negotiate with anyone from Portsmouth. I was nervous and disappointed. I felt I didn’t deserve this because I didn’t do anything wrong. Juventus’ reaction was an exaggeration “ He blurted out due to the turning point.
The toughness of English football really shocked the French player and he just struggled in the first few weeks. After that, however, he absorbed himself and adapted to the conditions in the island nation. In a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, he scored the first goal of his professional career, giving him such momentum that at the end of the 2002-2003 season, he led Portsmouth into the Premier League under his leadership. Taking each series into account, he helped his team with a total of nine goals and six assists in his first season.
“The first goal changed everything because from then on I really felt the trust and love of the fans. Harry Redknapp knew how to get the best out of me. He said he didn’t care what I did from Monday to Friday until I played well on Saturday. Because of Harry, my confidence increased and I wanted to give my best form. “
In the first season after the ascent, a huge wave of injuries decimated the South English ensemble. The injuries did not escape French talent either. He first suffered a severe thigh muscle rupture and then went on to the reserve team to rebuild himself, but his anterior cruciate ligament injury ended his season. He was a football player in his early twenties at the time he was unable to process the ongoing injuries, which eventually led to severe depression.
“When I first saw the scars on my feet, I didn’t know how to deal with the situation. At first I thought I could come back in a few weeks, but then I suffered even more injuries and only got more and more frustrated because I was afraid people wouldn’t. already trust me.
The player with mental health problems spent the 2005/06 season with Sheffield United and the following season with the Plymouth Argyle team on loan. He played well in both years, so in the summer of 2006 Stoke City signed with him so he could work with his former coach, Tony Pulis, again after Plymouth Argyle. In his new team, however, he had to play in a completely different game system, which he had reservations about, and he voiced this several times.
“They taught me how to play football in France and Italy. The game was much more tactical in those countries. I was confused and began to doubt myself again,” said the 38-year-old ex-soccerist.
Pericard scored just two goals in Stoke in three years, which thoroughly battered his faith. However, the real problems only followed: alcohol, gambling, and addiction. Then, in August 2007, he was sentenced to prison for distorting the judiciary after having to answer in court for speeding. Initially, one of his relatives took the penalty, but then he finally admitted that it was not him but Pericard sitting in the car, so the athlete was behind bars for four months. After his release, he returned to Stoke City, but soon after, he deviated from the good road again and was imprisoned.
“It was one of the hardest times of my life, but also one of the best because I learned the lesson. When I first went to jail, everything was fine since I was fit, but the second time was almost broken spiritually. I felt like there was no one who could help me or basically understand what I was going through, so I was close to giving up life ” The former striker said honestly about his difficult period.
Not only did the player lose his faith, but after his second prison sentence, the Stoke City leadership didn’t think Pericard could still have something to earn for the team. Thus, at the end of the 2007/08 season, he was loaned to Southampton for two months and then started the following season with third-class Millwall.
However, he was able to return to the football field in vain, he had another mental difficulty, as he could not process that he had moved from a leading team to a much lower class band due to his own mistake. All of this was so mentally worn out that at one point he was considering suicide.
At Stoke City, they watched the player on loan during the season and soon realized something was wrong with him, so they sent him to a sports psychologist. Interestingly, Stoke was, by the way, the first club in English football to employ professionals to mentally prepare athletes. Pericard was diagnosed with major depression, but with the help of a psychologist, she began to find her way back. Nonetheless, the Potters permanently abandoned the attacker in the summer of 2009 and released him for free to Carlisle United, where scorpion goal is an amazing goal against Norwich City.
He then spent two years with the Swindon Town team, and after being eliminated from the third division, he played for the English sixth division Havant & Waterlooville for a few more matches. He then became tired of the ongoing failures and eventually retired in 2012. The French striker, who is of Cameroonian descent, has scored just 23 goals in 11 years in his career.
“People now have a much better understanding of the importance of mental health. I wish it would have been that way, because it would have helped not only me, but a lot of footballers like me who went through the same difficulties as me. I wish I had never written a message to that Italian woman, but even from that point of view, I think they overreacted to what happened at Juventus. “ Pericard said.
Well, Pericard finally found the path to a balanced, happy life. At the end of his football career, he studied economics and a master’s degree in finance and accounting at the University of Portsmouth, then started his own business to help foreign footballers coming to England settle in, as well as being a successful businessman. One thing today, however, is a regret, namely the texting that seals his athletic career.
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