Decorated twice (2008 and 2011) in Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year, Steve Mandanda is a professional footballer who currently plays for the French football club Marseille and also for the French football team.
Mandanda has been a member of the French National since 2008, representing the country in five international tournaments, including two FIFA World Cups and three UEFA European Championships. His World Cup debut came at the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa, while his UEFA Euro debut was in 2008.
Brief biography
Steve Mandanda was born in the capital city of Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa on March 28, 1985, as Steve Mandanda Mpidi. As a teenager, he moved to France to pursue a career in football. There is no information about his degrees.
His family, brothers and sisters
Steve is the first of four children born to his parents – Franck and Brigitte Mandanda. His three younger brothers, Parfait Mandanda, Over Mandanda and Riffi Mandanda, are all professional footballers who play as goalkeepers like him.
Perfect for the Belgian football club Charleroi and for the Congo national football team. Riffi is the goalkeeper for AC Ajaccio (French football club) and the France under-16 football team. His younger brother, Over, is in the junior ranks of French soccer club US Lusitanos Saint-Maur.
Steve Mandanda, nicknamed Frenchie” by relatives and friends who chose to play for the French soccer team instead of the Congo national team, lives in Marseille with his family and enjoys spending his free time with them.
Career League
After moving to France, Steve started his career with Le Havre, a French football club based in Le Havre and made his first appearance for the club in August 2005. He played a total of 30 league matches for the club during of the 2005/2006 season and did not concede a goal in their fourth game of the season.
He played 37 league matches the following season (2006/2007) and his outstanding performances quickly caught the attention of other clubs, including English club Aston Villa, with whom he failed in pre-season before moving on. settling with French football club Marseille in the summer of 2007.
Mandanda started his career at Marseille as an understudy to first-choice goalkeeper Cédric Carrasso, who had to sit out for six months with a knee injury. This allowed Steve to play as the club’s main goalkeeper in French Professional League, Ligue 1, Champions League and UEFA Cup matches. After an impressive performance, he signed a permanent four-year contract with Marseille in March 2008.
When his four-year contract expired, he was named Marseille Player of the Season for the second time. He had already won the award the previous season.
In 2016, Premier League club Crystal Palace signed Steve Mandanda on a free transfer from Marseille, but he struggled throughout the season, only making nine appearances through injury. The following year (2017), Mandanda returned to Olympique de Marseille on a three-year contract.
International career
Steve joined the France football team in 2008 but before that he played with the Under-21 side winning several caps. After his outstanding performances, he was named among the French selection to represent the country in the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
In 2007, the goalkeeper took part in the FrenchPre-selection of selection A for the first time. In February 2008, he played with the France B national football team in a friendly against his home country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with his younger brother, Parfait, serving as goalkeeper. However, he was substituted at halftime.
Steve made his first full international appearance on May 27, 2008 in a Euro 2008 warm-up friendly against Ecuador, which ended in a 2–0 win. He replaced Sébastien Frey and gave an incredible performance. After the game, he was named third-choice goalkeeper for the Euro 2008 French team.
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He then qualified as the Frenchman’s first-choice goalkeeper for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, he was replaced by Hugo Lloris in the summer of 2009 by coach Raymond Domenech, who preferred the goalkeeper goal for Olympique Lyonnais. Mandanda was still among the players for the 2010 World Cup, but he never got the chance to feature in any of the team’s three games in the competition.
He made the squad list for the 2014 FIFA World Cup but was replaced by Stephane Ruffie, after picking up an injury before the tournament officially started. Another opportunity came in 2018 when he was among the 23 men representing France at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. This time he participated in the tournament.
How tall is Steve Mandanda? – Its height and weight
The France team goalkeeper stands at a height of 1.87m and weighs 82kg. His other body measurements are unknown.