Getty ImagesMike Maignan
NOS Voetbal•vrijdag, 12:31
Bass of Wit
editor NOS Sport
Bass of Wit
editor NOS Sport
The new king of French goalkeepers is called Mike Maignan. He was appointed by national coach Didier Deschamps without much fanfare as heir apparent to the retired Hugo Lloris. He will most likely be behind the bar against the Dutch national team tonight as well.
The rise of Maignan – 28 years old, goalkeeper for AC Milan – to the international goalkeeper position was almost silent. And yet in recent years he has secretly grown into one of the best goalkeepers in Europe.
Too much is generally not said or written about Maignan, but last weekend his name sang around the world. In an annoying way.
Maignan’s red card in the league match against Genoa went off viral. His foul, in which he hit an opponent in the face with his knee, was certainly not gentle.
AFPMike Maignan knocks down Genoa’s Caleb Ekuban
It was nice that striker Olivier Giroud took over the place under Maignan’s crossbar and secured Milan’s victory with a nice save. And the way Milan dealt with it was funny. But that was anything but the situation for Maignan.
His foul was compared to Toni Schumacher’s infamous attack at the 1982 World Cup. The German goalkeeper then torpedoed French player Patrick Battiston in the semi-final.
Genoa chairman Alberto Zangrillo, former personal physician of Silvio Berlusconi, viewed Maignan’s violation through his doctor’s glasses. He called the action ‘murderous’.
Maignan did not accept that: on Instagram he condemned Zangrillo’s statement. “Words have impact,” he wrote. “I hope you will never have to deal with what you accuse me of.”
Strong self-will
It does not surprise Anwar El Ghazi that Maignan defends himself in such a strong manner. The two played together at Lille, where Maignan ended up through the youth of Paris Saint-Germain.
“He has a very strong will of his own,” says El Ghazi. “He is an emotional person who, when he feels that he is being unfairly attacked, bites back. Then he contradicts it in a harsh way.”
Penaltykiller Maignan
Mike Maignan is one of the better penalty stoppers in global football.
His first ball contact as a professional footballer was a penalty that he tapped from the corner. Maignan saved 37 percent of the penalties he conceded. Maignan took a penalty from Memphis Depay during France-Netherlands in March. Maignan says he uses penalty kicks on pure instinct, not on basis. of information about the penalty taker
Maignan does not easily bend his knees. Not even at the age of 17 for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. During a training with the PSG first team, Ibrahimovic called him a goalkeeper of nothing.
Maignan then ducked a few shots from the Swede out of the corner and told him that he had become a striker from nothing. ‘Ibra’ appreciated it, he told him after the training. “You have a good attitude. Keep it up.”
Maignan came of age at Lille. He developed into a player with an eye for others. “You could go to him for a sensitive conversation,” said El Ghazi. “He was a leader in the group, someone you heard a lot and was emotional when we lost.”
Effortless tapping
Maignan’s big break came in the 2020/2021 season. Lille defeated PSG’s billion-dollar machine and became French champions for the first time in ten years. Maignan was named Ligue 1’s best goalkeeper. He kept a clean sheet in 21 games, the second most clean sheets in the history of the French league.
“He is really good on the line,” says El Ghazi. “His reflexes are simply absurd. But he can also play football and does not panic easily with the ball.”
European Championship qualification for the Dutch national team NOS
The Dutch national team will play against France in the Johan Cruijff Arena on Friday at 8:45 PM. The preview starts at 8 p.m. on NOS.nl and the NOS app. The broadcast can also be seen on NPO 1 from 8:30 PM. The match can also be followed via Along the Line and Surrounding Areas on NPO Radio 1.
Greece will be the opponent in Athens on Monday at 8:45 PM (Dutch time). That match can also be followed live via all NOS channels and we will also follow the Oranje closely for the rest of the week.
This was evident at Lille during position games during training. Maignan happily joined in. “He is really quite technical, he was able to keep up well during those kinds of exercises.”
In 2021, the goalkeeper exchanged Lille for Milan. He became the successor to child prodigy Gianluigi Donnarumma. “It was already clear to me then that Lille was not his final destination.”
Number 1 in France
At AC Milan, Maignan quickly made Donarrumma forget. But he had to wait a long time for his chance with the French team.
After the World Cup in Qatar, Hugo Lloris announced his retirement from international football and Deschamps announced that Maignan would become his new goalkeeper. He was preferred over competitors Alphonse Aréola (West Ham) and Brice Samba (Lens).
View the summary of Ireland – France
Maignan did not concede a goal in any of his European Championship qualifying matches (against the Netherlands, Ireland and Greece). His spectacular performance in Dublin was widely praised.
According to Deschamps, Maignan is not up for discussion, even after all the fuss surrounding Milan’s match against Genoa. “The card was deserved, but he is serving his sentence at his club and not with us. I have spoken to him and it is now behind him.”
