CAN-2022: the miraculous odyssey of Senegalese Édouard Mendy to the Champions League

If the life of Édouard Mendy were a film, it would be a remake of "Rocky: the story of an outsider", with a failed career, which refuses to admit defeat and ends, against all odds, by winning the highest honors in his sport. In 2014, Édouard Mendy was unemployed at 23, an age when Kylian Mbappé and other Erling Haaland had already broken through for a long time. His career could have ended there, but he finally became the best African goalkeeper today.

Unemployed for a year

That year, his contract with Cherbourg (National, the third French division and antechamber of the professional world) ended. No club is interested in the Senegalese goalkeeper and his agent even stops responding to his messages. He returns to live with his parents, in the suburbs of Le Havre, and accepts the offer of a friend to work in a clothing store to support his family. His partner is then pregnant with their first child.

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Édouard Mendy could have become another youngster among the thousands left on the sidelines of professional football. A friend, however, will unlock his career. His former Cherbourg partner Ted Lavie put him in touch with OM goalkeeping coach Dominique Bernatowicz. The club is then looking for a goalkeeper for the reserve team.

"From the first test I gave it, I saw what wood it was made of", recalls Dominique Bernatowicz in the Guardian.

Reims, Rennes, Chelsea: constant progress

He put him in contact with an agent capable of finding him a professional club in France. He thus joined Reims at the start of the 2016/2017 season. And as the luck of a new goalkeeper is made up of the misfortune of the previous one, he takes advantage of that of Johann Carrasso, who loses the confidence of the coach after the first game of the season. Édouard Mendy takes his place and displays his talent.

The following season, Édouard Mendy played a crucial role in the crowning of the eastern French club in Ligue 2. The following season, at the highest level in France, he impressed as one of the best goalkeepers in L1: 14 matches without a goal, the third highest tally in Ligue 1 this season and a performance that allows Reims, just promoted, to clinch a surprising 8th place.

Despite offers from Porto and Chelsea, Édouard Mendy prefers to stay in France. He left Champagne for Brittany, Reims for Rennes. The Breton club is a regular in the soft underbelly of the championship, often at the gates of the European Cup.

In his first game, Édouard Mendy made an impression on the fans: just after recovering from a broken finger, he saved a penalty and enabled the club to win 2-0 against Strasbourg. The historic 2019/2020 season of the SRFC is launched: with Mendy providing the rearguard and well helped by the premature end of the championship due to Covid-19, Rennes finishes for the first time on the podium and wins a ticket for his first Champions League.

What, once again, to attract the attention of the big European teams. Legendary Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has been keeping tabs on his former Breton club. He then advises Frank Lampard, coach of the Blues, to take an interest in Mendy. The transfer is signed for 22 million euros

A club of the caliber of Chelsea was exactly what Édouard Mendy needed to take it to the next level. Once again, his beginnings are dazzling. He steals the starting spot from Kepa Arrizabalaga, yet he arrived with the most expensive goalkeeper status in history. He kept his clean sheets from his debut in the Premier League against Crystal Palace (4-0) until a victory against his former club Rennes in the Champions League (3-0). In total, over the 2020/2021 financial year, he totaled 25 “clean-sheets” in 44 meetings.

To top it off, Édouard Mendy played a leading role in Chelsea's Champions League triumph. With the victory in the final against Manchester City, he became the first African goalkeeper to lift the most prestigious trophy in club football. And with nine games without conceding a goal, he equaled the record in this area, co-held by Santiago Canizares in 2000-01 (then at Valencia) and Keylor Navas in 2015-16 (then at Real Madrid).

He played for Guinea-Bissau before Senegal

His performances in his various clubs earned him notice from the national selections. Born in France to a Senegalese mother and a Bissau-Guinean father, he could claim a place in all three teams.

At first, his heart seems to go to Guinea-Bissau. In 2016, he honored the Lycaons with his presence for a few friendly matches. Édouard Mendy thus says to pay tribute to his father, then seriously ill:

“(My father) always told me that he would like me to wear the Guinea jersey one day. I said to myself that he could leave without me having offered him the joy of seeing his son in a national team. It could have been something unfinished for him. So I jumped at the chance”, he explains in 2018, to SoFoot.

Finally, with the remission of his father and the approach of CAN-2017 in Gabon, he ended up opting for Senegal. Teranga Lions with whom he "always wanted" to evolve because it is "his mother's homeland".

Senegal gives him back his choice. With central defender Kalidou Koulibaly, he is a formidable rear guard for the selection of the Teranga Lions. Alongside Abdou Diallo, Idrissa Gueye and Liverpool superstar Sadio Mané, the West African nation once again come forward as favorites in Cameroon.

Senegal have every reason to be grateful for Mendy's decision - especially as their strong defensive line is a major factor in making them favorites to win the trophy, benefiting from the centre-back's formidable presence Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly alongside talented PSG left-back Abdou Diallo. With a talismanic presence up front in the form of Liverpool winger Sadio Mané, Senegal should be a formidable presence in Cameroon.

The fact remains that Édouard Mendy still seems to suffer from a lack of popularity. Despite his exemplary season, he finished second to Gianluigi Donnarumma at the Lev Yachine Trophy as the best goalkeeper of the year. A new exemplary CAN could allow him to win a title oh so deserved for those who have never given up on their dreams.

Adapted from English by Romain Houeix. The original version can be found here.