He could have sunk and stopped football after damaging his image.
But a year after his dismissal from Auxerre, Samir Chergui (22) resumed his career at Paris FC.
Appeared several times in the group since January (4 matches in L2, 2 in the Coupe de France), he will sign a pro contract until June 2022.
“People were talking about me and thought it was over.
But I show them that I understood that I had done m ... (sic) in Auxerre and that I knew how to bounce back, ”says Chergui, who had never yet expressed himself on the Auxerre episode.
After several small deviations, he crossed the yellow line in February 2020. “It was the 5th, the day before my birthday,” he says.
I had been partying all night and arrived in the morning drunk for training.
Coach Furlan saw me, I was summoned, fired and then fired.
I have committed a big mistake.
But at the time, I was not well, I was no longer too serious, I went out a lot and like Auxerre, it's a small town, everything is known… ”
The Franco-Algerian who grew up and started in Brétigny (91) was going through a difficult time at AJA, a club he had joined in U14 and where he signed a first pro contract in June 2019.
“I had done several benches in Ligue 2 but in January, the coach sent me back to reserve with three other young people.
He explained to me that it was to reduce his group but I took it as a sanction, a punishment.
From there I started to let go and slip a bit.
"
After his dismissal, he admits having "lived through difficult times".
“I was not well, I was ashamed of myself.
I also knew that I had disappointed my family.
Overnight, I found myself alone, without a club, without a salary… You come back to reality and that's where you measure how lucky you were… But I had ruined everything.
Going back to my parents' home in Brétigny did me good.
But I was afraid of being toasted in the middle.
It is normal for the clubs to say to each other, this player, he is not serious.
"
"The outings are over now ..."
Unemployed for four months, Chergui required daily solo training.
He also had to overcome the looks and words of his interlocutors.
“To move on, I took refuge in work,” he continues.
Loïc Gustan, his agent for several years, has not let go either.
If Paris FC reached out to him in July, he arrived there by the back door, for the reserve (N3) with an amateur contract, without pay.
"We wanted to give Samir a second chance, but by defining a very clear framework with him," explains Frédéric Hébert, the sports director.
He immediately showed exemplary behavior on and off the pitch and it's up to him to show that he has learned from his mistakes.
He has a definite potential, he has to demonstrate it.
"
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Chergui seems to be on the right track since he only took a few months to join the L2 group.
“What happened to me made me grow and mature,” he admits.
I am revenge on myself.
I understood a lot of things.
The outings are over now ... I must be faultless.
I want people to talk about me for what I do and no more for this Auxerre story.
"
Its reconstruction also involves sharing its bad experience.
Last week, he made an intervention with young people from the Paris FC training center.
“I told them they had to measure their luck to be there.
My example should serve them. "