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Garnet between 2020 and 2024, Candice Gherbi looks back on her career, her time at FC Metz, her injuries as well as her new life. Interview.
Injured for a few weeks, she said her official farewell during the last match of last season at Saint Symphorien which validated the Garnets' retention in the Second League. Candice Gherbirecently retired, looks back for Let's Go Metz on her career, her time at FC Metz and her new life. A busy life where she flourishes.
Candice, how are you?
It's going very well, thank you. I'm enjoying my family, my friends and my new life outside of Football.
Candice, tell us how you got into football?
I started playing football at the age of seven. Originally, I played handball but my father was a Gendarme, so we moved around quite a bit because he was often transferred. Once arrived in Montbrison in the Loire, there was no longer a women's handball team. Once, in the Gendarmerie courtyard, some friends asked me to come play football with them. They told me I was super strong and invited me to come play in their club and my parents signed me up!
You then began your professional career with ASSE, a club with which you discovered D1 and the France B team. What memories do you have of it?
Saint-Étienne is the club that gave me everything. It’s a club that is very dear to me. It allowed me to access all the French youth teams. I was able to make the U17 Euro, the U18 World Cup which I won in fact, and I played in the French B team. I am very grateful to ASSE. I played my first match in D1 there in Juvisy (PFC), I only remember positives.
Then, in 2019, you signed with OM for a season before arriving a year later at FC Metz.
My year in Marseille hadn't gone very well, I needed to find some playing time and, above all, some fun. So I was looking for a new project…
Tell us a little about your arrival in Metz, how did your transfer go?
Jessica Silva was looking for a number 6, we called each other and we hit it off well. I really liked her game plan, she liked to play and come from behind but she also asked that we run a lot, that we expend a lot of energy, that we put in intensity. She liked to say that she had a Spanish playing profile. So I arrived in Metz in September 2020 during COVID, we only played five matches before the championship was stopped. There were a lot of new recruits so it allowed me to integrate easily. We had a super cool group so my arrival went very well in a city that I love very much.
In Metz, you were an indisputable starter but in October 2022 during a match in Lille, you injured your cruciate ligaments. How did this stage of your career go?
At the start of the season before my injury, I asked myself a lot of questions, I asked myself if all these sacrifices were worth it, did I want to continue playing football etc.? Football is something that I love and that I always will but at a certain age, there are a lot of things that happen and this injury came at a time when mentally I was not very well . It was something that had to happen, I injured myself so I threw myself into my rehabilitation without asking myself any questions and it went really well, except for the operation which was complicated because I had a lot of pain. I returned to the field quite quickly and was selectable six and a half months after the operation.
Then in March 2024, you injure your cruciate ligaments again, and there you decide to end your football career. A hard choice to make?
Since I potentially wanted to stop playing football before my first cruciate injury, I had started with the idea of doing one very last season except that I was never able to finish it because of this second cruciate ligament injury. In the end, this choice to end my career was not so hard to make. I did my rehabilitation on my own, close to my family, it went very well and I took the opportunity to do research for my next job because I have been a nurse since 2018, a diploma I obtained when I played in Saint-Étienne. I was therefore able to calmly and calmly prepare for my return to working life.
Aside from your injuries, what memories do you have of your years spent at FC Metz?
I have very good memories of Metz, the club always supported me through my injuries. They really followed me and I thank again Laura, Emeline and Jean-Nicolas the physiotherapists who were very present for me. In Metz I also found friends and it's rare in football to be able to say that but I really met incredible people here. I am very grateful for it.
Do you continue to follow the club's results? Do you still have contact with current players?
Of course I still follow the club's results. I subscribe to the various Instagram accounts which highlight the women of FC Metz. I am still in contact with a few players and I like to write them little words of encouragement before matches. It's a club that I love and which has given me a lot, so of course I continue to follow them.
Marine Morel, your former partner, was named FC Metz women's coach at the start of the season. What do you think of this decision?
I'm very happy for her, Marine is someone who does a lot for the club. Whether it is her or her family, they have been extremely invested for years and I think her nomination is a fair reward. She completely deserves it and she will really bring to this team. She had a very good start to the season and even if now it's a little more complicated, I hope that everything goes well for her and that it will be a springboard for a great coaching career.
Since your early retirement last May, what has become of you? What are your projects?
Currently, I am a nurse in a daycare in Annecy. I really wanted to work with children and I did. I really have fun doing what I do. Besides that, I continue to exercise and exercise daily. It's something I also love doing. It's a new life which is very fulfilling and which allows me to enjoy my family
Any last words to pass on to the garnets supporters?
Continue to support this club. The women have a big second part of the season to manage and the pros have the objective of moving up so continue to be present as you do!
Photo credit : Julien Buret /LGM
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