Football: International goalkeeper Steve Mandanda announces the end of his career

Final chapter after more than twenty years at the highest level. International goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, world champion with the French team in 2018 , announced his retirement in an interview with the newspaper l'Equipe . "I needed to take my time to accept it, already, because it's not easy, but yes I'm stopping," announced to the daily the former goalkeeper of Olympique de Marseille, who has 35 caps for the Blues .

"I had a long period of reflection because I had a lot of calls [from clubs like Le Havre, Lorient, Guingamp, Brest, Montpellier according to L'Equipe, editor's note] but I said no each time," adds Mandanda, who has been free since July 1 and the end of his contract with Stade Rennais.

Trained at Le Havre, where he revealed himself in Ligue 2, Mandanda was recruited by Olympique de Marseille where he established himself in his first season in the elite in 2007-2008.

The Kinshasa native spent most of his career at OM, 14 seasons in total. He won a French league title in 2010, three consecutive League Cups (2010, 2011, 2012) and two Trophées des Champions (2010, 2011) under the leadership of Didier Deschamps , who became his coach in France in 2012.

After having honored his first selection in blue in May 2008 under the orders of Raymond Domenech , Mandanda established himself as a starter in the French goal before losing his place in 2009 to Hugo Lloris .

The former OM goalkeeper has remained Lloris' backup for many years, participating in the greatest adventures of Deschamps' Blues, from the Euro 2016 final on home soil to the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, and was especially in the squad for the second world title won in 2018 in Russia. He announced the end of his international career in January 2023.