Crowned world champion with the Blues in 1998, Frank Leboeuf could hardly imagine such a destiny when he played in Meaux, in Seine-et-Marne, in National. The man who then played midfielder or even playmaker saw his career change thanks to a cassette sent to more upscale clubs. Laval will be seduced and the native of Marseille will stay two seasons in Mayenne before joining Strasbourg.
But Frank Leboeuf almost saw his career called into question by a physical problem which poisoned him. But that was without counting on Philippe Boixel, who would become the Blues’ physiotherapist a few years later. “I’m in Laval, I’m 19-20 years old like all the little idiots, he said in a long interview with So Foot. One day, Philippe Boixel, the osteopath, said to me “can you remove it?” » and he showed the lower part of my back, at the top of my buttocks, to my ex-wife. When I put it on and leaned over, twisted. When I took it off, straight. He saved me with that earring thing. »
The good care of a bonesetter
The French world champion also sometimes relied on a bonesetter when he was with Tango. With success.
“Pascal Rousseau, the Laval goalkeeper, suggested that I go see him. This guy, a peasant from Sarthe, he would have saved his son who would have been made a stranger by ghosts… And I had kicked a clod of earth during training. It had damaged my meniscus, he explained. We drive for an hour and after five minutes of pretend caresses, he says to me: “It’s okay.” On the way back, I said to Pascal: “Your guy is a puppet.” Except that the next morning, I no longer had any pain. There, you say to yourself shit. And I went to see him again, several times. »
And the former central defender added: “He played the plate trick on me: you ate from it and brought it to him without cleaning it. He gave me alcohol, salt, he read it and then he made it burn. If you burn it and it explodes within ten seconds, what you want will happen. »
