Rennes (AFP)
Veteran French goalkeeper Steve Mandanda announced his international retirement at the age of thirty-seven, after winning the 2018 World Cup title and the 2022 runner-up as a substitute goalkeeper for captain Hugo Lloris.
Mandanda’s retirement comes five days after Loris’ international retirement.
“Today, my career with the French national team ends,” said the Rennes goalkeeper, who has carried the colors of France since 2008, in a press conference on the eve of the match against Paris Saint-Germain, leaders in the French Football League.
The former Marseille goalkeeper, who carried the colors of the roosters in 35 international matches, indicated that the decision was “taken at the end” of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, which France lost on penalties to Argentina.
Mandanda said: “I lived great moments with the French national team, and I was lucky and happy to cut all those moments. But at the age of thirty-seven, I think it is the right time” to give the opportunity to others, at a time when “many young men of high quality” come.
With Lloris and Mandanda’s retirement, the road seems to be paved for 27-year-old Mike Mignan, the Italian Milan goalkeeper who was absent from the last World Cup due to injury, to wear the shirt of the main goalkeeper in the French national team.
France will play the Netherlands on March 24 at the Saint-Denis stadium in the suburbs of Paris, in the opening of the 2024 European Cup qualifiers.
