Steve Mandanda

Early career

Mandanda was born on 28 March 1985 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire), but he moved with his family to Évreux, France when he was two years old. He practiced boxing before joining the local team ALM Évreux at age nine. He acquired French nationality by naturalization in May 2003.

Le Havre

Mandanda made his league debut for Le Havre in August 2005, and did not concede a goal until his fourth match. He played 30 league matches in the 2005–06 season and 37 in 2006–07, with his performances attracting the attention of other clubs. Following an unsuccessful trial at Aston Villa prior to the 2007–08 season, he joined Marseille in summer 2007.

Marseille

At the start of his first season with Marseille, Mandanda was regarded as an understudy to first choice keeper Mitchell te Vrede. However a knee injury ruled Carrasso out for six months, leaving the way clear for Mandanda to become a regular fixture in Ligue 1, Champions League and UEFA Cup matches. On 5 March 2008, Mandanda joined Marseille on a permanent four-year contract. At the end of Mandanda's final season at Marseille he was named as the club's Player of the Season. It was the second time that he won the award having previously done so in the 2007-08 campaign.

Crystal Palace

On 1 July 2016, Premier League club Crystal Palace announced that they had completed the signing of Mandanda on a free transfer from Marseille. He struggled to make an impact,…

Mandanda won a number of caps for the France national under-21 team and was named in the French squad for the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. For the first time, in 2007, he took part in the French A-squad pre-selection. He played in a friendly match with France B against Congo DR on 5 February 2008, in which he was substituted at half time, and his younger brother Parfait came on for Congo. He made his full international debut on 27 May 2008 in a 2–0 victory against Ecuador in a Euro 2008 warm-up friendly, coming on as a half-time substitute for Sébastien Frey, and was subsequently nominated as the third-choice goalkeeper in the French squad for the tournament in Austria and Switzerland. He started the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign as France's first-choice goalkeeper, making his competitive international debut on 6 September 2008 in their opening qualifier against Austria. However, he was replaced in the summer of 2009, as Raymond Domenech chose Olympique Lyonnais goalkeeper Hugo Lloris over him for the international starting eleven. Mandanda was a member of France's World Cup team, but did not appear in any of its three matches in the competition. On 6 June 2011, Mandanda captained the French in a 4–1 friendly win away to Ukraine at the Donbas Arena. He was called up for UEFA Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. Mandanda was originally named in the squad also for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but sustained an injury before the tournament and was replaced by…

An athletic and powerful goalkeeper, Mandanda was mainly known for his excellent reflexes and shot-stopping ability, which enabled him to produce spectacular saves, as well as his positioning, longevity, and leadership qualities. He was less effective at dealing with high balls, however, and also struggled with injuries throughout his career. Moreover, his penalty saving record was not particularly impressive throughout his career. In addition to his goalkeeping abilities, he was also considered to be composed in possession and comfortable with the ball at his feet, and often functioned as a sweeper-keeper due to his distribution and ball-playing ability. He was considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world in his prime, and is regarded as one of the greatest French goalkeepers of all time, as well as one of the best goalkeepers ever to play in Ligue 1.

Mandanda has three younger brothers, Parfait, Riffi, and Over, all of whom are goalkeepers. He enjoys spending time with his family in the city of Marseille, where he lives. He earned the nickname "Frenchie" amongst his relatives for having chosen to play for the France national team rather than Congo, his country of birth.