(ANSA) – ROME, MARCH 11 – “If I hadn’t been a goalkeeper, I would have been a policeman. I like to protect”. This was confessed by Inter goalkeeper André Onana, protagonist of the first episode, available today on Dazn, of the new season of ‘Culture’, the format that tells about the cultures and traditions of Serie A players. “I come from a humble family, from a very poor village: I never imagined playing for Inter – confesses the Cameroonian -. I had four brothers, the oldest died and I’m the youngest. Kristian, one of them, played as a goalkeeper. I carried his bag: so I fell in love with the role”.
Onana gained experience in Barcelona’s academy, where “I learned how to pass the ball: knowing how to decide the play, read situations. In the last 20 years, that of goalkeeper is the role that has changed the most. When I was little, they told me ‘Don’t never play it in the middle”. Now, you have to give it where there is space. The goalkeeper today is someone who is strong with his feet, strong in one-on-one situations, courageous, who transmits security, who attacks high balls. If you are, you live next to the mistake. You have to be strong and not be afraid to make mistakes”. At Inter, the Cameroonian has a colleague who is his opposite, “a very serious and calm one. I am agitated and playful”, and players who are also strong in character: “To stay in a dressing room like this, to answer Dzeko or Lautaro, it takes personality. If we have to fight to always win, then we always fight.” His idol is Manuel Neuer, but the gloves given to him by Gigi Buffon made him happy. And the AC Milan rival Maignan? “I have a wonderful relationship with him. I am very happy that he is in Milan with me. Who is stronger? I don’t know. But maybe I know in my head”, concludes Onana (ANSA).
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