Steve Mandanda

Steve Mandanda is a French professional footballer who was born on March 28, 1985 in Kinshasa, DR. He plays at the position of goalkeeper for his team.

Background

Mandanda started his youth football career Le Havre in 2001 till 2005 before beginning with their senior team. And there he did not concede a goal until his fourth match. He played a total of 30 matches in 2005-06 Ligue 2 and 37 in 2006-07 season. His continuous performances and keeping abilities grabbed attention of many other clubs and he joined Marseille in 2007.

He also played many matches France U21 football team from 2005 onwards. He also played with France's A and B team before making it to the French senior national team.

Debut

He made his debut for France on May 27, 2008 in a 2-0 winning match against Ecuador during a UEFA Euro 2008. It was a warm-up friendly game where he came in halftime as a substitute for Sebastien Frey and from there on he became the third choice for goalkeeper in the French squad for Euro 2018.

Rise to glory

2007-08 Ligue 2 season turned out to be great for him as he won the ‘Club’s Player of the season’ during that time. He appeared in 34 matches during that season.

Low points

On July 1, 2016, Premier League club Crystal Palace got him transferred from Marseille. But there he struggled to make any impact as he was injured during most of the tournament and could play only nine matches. After this unsuccessful season, he returned back to Marseille.

Club career

Mandanda began his club career with Le Haive in August 2005 where he started well with not conceding a goal until his fourth game. He went on to play 30 matches in that season and 37 in the next one. This grabbed attention of other clubs also but after an unsuccessful trial at Aston Villa, he moved to Marseille in summer 2007.

With Marseille, Mandanda did not get to play much as Cedric Carrasso was regarded as their first choice for goalkeeper. However, Carrasso was ruled out for six months due to a knee injury and this cleared the way for him to play. He was with Marseille for nine seasons which began right from 2007-08 to 2015-15 where he performed well and was able to make good amount of appearances every season.

For 2016-17 Premier League season, Mandanda was transferred to Crystal Palace where he didn't get to play much as he was injured during most of the season and could feature in only nine matches. So, next year he returned back to Marseille for a reported transfer fee of €3 million.

Records

Mandanda was part of the Marseille side that won the 2009-10 Ligue 1 season. He was with them also when they won Coupe de la Ligue in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12; Trophee Des Champions in 2010 and 2011.

In his individual records, he won the UNFP Player of the month in February 2008, August 2008 and September 2017. He also won the Ligue 1 ‘Goalkeeper of the year’ for 2007-08, 2010-11, 2014-15 and 2015-16 and was part of the Ligue 1 'Team of the year’ during the same years. He was also honoured with Marseille Olympian of the Season in 2007-08 and 2015-16.