Steve Mandanda, former France keeper, announces retirement at 40 | OneFootball

Goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, world champion with the French national team in 2018, announced his retirement at the age of 40 in an interview published by the newspaper L’Équipe this Wednesday.

“I needed time to accept it, first of all, because it’s not easy, but yes, I’m going to stop,” declared Mandanda, who has 35 appearances for the French national team.

“I had a long period of reflection because I received many offers, but I said no to all of them,” adds the now former goalkeeper, who had been without a club since leaving Rennes at the beginning of July.

Steve Mandanda made his professional debut with Le Havre in 2005, when the club was in the second division. In 2007, he was signed by Olympique de Marseille and stood out in his very first season in the top flight.

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Born in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he spent most of his career at Olympique (14 seasons), where he won the French championship (2010), the French League Cup (2010, 2011 and 2012), and the French Super Cup (2010) under the management of Didier Deschamps, who took over the national team in 2012.

After making his debut for ‘Les Bleus’ in May 2008, called up by Raymond Domenech, Mandanda was the starter until he lost his spot to Hugo Lloris in 2009.

A backup for many years, he took part in the runner-up finish at Euro 2016, the World Cup title in 2018, and the runner-up finish at the 2022 World Cup, before announcing his retirement from the national team in 2023.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.