The PSG stars may not have paid attention to his name before going to Nantes.
Until then, Alban Lafont was a (very) good Ligue 1 goalkeeper but his profile had not yet completely exceeded that of the great hope of French football.
Now, the MNM, having broken their teeth on Saturday evening in front of the native goalkeeper of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) knows who he is.
“The fans said tonight that I was Manuel Neuer (the legendary goalkeeper of Bayern Munich)?
he wondered after the match.
No no !
Everyone is who they are.
I am very happy with my performance.
I work to make these kinds of matches.
You have to try to do as much as possible.
I work hard in training to make it happen again.
»
🎙 #FCNPSG I 𝗟𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰 '𝗱𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵
Find the reactions of 𝘼𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙆𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙚 after the @FCNANTS victory 🆚 @psg_inside 👇
– FC Nantes (@FCNantes) February 20, 2022
We don't know if Neuer would have stopped a penalty from Neymar (admittedly a little soft) or a point-blank shot from Kylian Mbappé and everything that went under his nose.
Alban Lafont did it.
Feline, he intervened in the feet of Messi (3rd and 8th), therefore repelled an attempt by Mbappé (19th), a point-blank recovery from Gueye (27th), an attempt by Neymar (28th) and another tumble from Mbappé (54th).
“He is gaining momentum, especially since the start of the season.
If today we have this ranking (5th), if we are very strong defensively, it has a lot to do with it.
His work should be put forward » insists Antoine Kombouaré who has made him his captain for several months.
“I experienced this match as a championship match, promises the hero of the evening.
Well, of course it's PSG and it's more publicized.
But there are always three points at stake as for all matches.
So here is.
On each match I try to give the maximum and today (Saturday), it went rather well”.
Yes, we can say that.
Alban Lafont is the story of a guy only 23 years old, the son of a French entrepreneur and a mother who was a former member of the Burkinabe parliament.
An attacker when he started playing football at the age of 6 in the Montpellier region where his divorced parents settled, he joined the Toulouse training center in 2014. His progress was so dazzling that he was propelled into Ligue 1 at only 16 years and ten months in the Toulouse jersey on November 28, 2015 against Nice.
He thus becomes one of the youngest goalkeepers in the history of Ligue 1.
Definitively purchased by Nantes
He remained in the Toulouse cage until his departure for a 5-year contract at La Fiorentina in July 2018. After 34 games in Serie A, he was loaned to FC Nantes a year later.
In April 2021, at the insistence of Antoine Kombouaré, Nantes bought him definitively with a 3-year contract.
And no one on the banks of the Loire has regretted it since.
As a sign of recognition, Lafont last summer even declined his selection for the France U23 team for the Euro in order to help Nantes stay in Ligue 1 to play the double confrontation in the play-off against Toulouse.
“We are aware of what we did tonight, continues the hero of the weekend.
It was a wonderful game, I think it's one of my best games since I started as a pro.
Whether in the euphoria of the stadium, with the players, we have a great group.
It's great to win such a match with this group.
A match mastered and won for many thanks to him: “What note do I put on myself after such a match?
I don't know, he said humbly.
Me, as long as my parents and relatives are happy with me, that's the most important thing.
The coach was also happy with me.
After, the notes, frankly, I don't care a bit.
We just live with evenings like these moments apart.
It's soccer.
We do this sport for this kind of emotion.
When we live them, when it smiles on us, we are necessarily happy.
»