Newly called up to the French team following good performances at Stade Rennais, Estéban Lepaul (26 years old) arrives with the desire to shine for Zinedine Zidane’s first rally. Present this Tuesday at a press conference, he returned to his unique journey and the loss of his father Fabrice Lepaul in 2020: “you know when you have a father who experienced the Champions League (with Auxerre) and the high level. France could have been something for him, he didn’t make it and he passed it on to me. Things worked out well, I lost him in 2020. He finished his career at 24 and mine started at 24. There is a great story to finish. Now that he’s no longer here, he’s my daily driving force and it drives me. This is where my strength comes from.»
The Rennes striker, who also left the Olympique Lyonnais training center the same year as his father died, also spoke about how he bounced back to reach the highest level: “it was a more than complicated year in 2020, but a dream that was always there. This is the moment when I got together with my wife, I told her that I was convinced of going to the top, in Ligue 1. Confidence, self-sacrifice and work mixed with the trigger. There were moments of doubt, but I had confidence. I was very well supported and I put everything in place to get there. In the end everything is achievable. There was a lot of belief in my level and what I was capable of. This made a beautiful cocktail.»
