Milan star Mike Maignan discusses getting through the worst injury of his career and the ‘psychological duel’ of penalties, while his France teammates assure he is the ‘best goalkeeper in the world.’
The shot-stopper is the undisputed France Number 1 now after taking over from Hugo Lloris and that is largely thanks to his performances for the Rossoneri.
“Hugo told me to keep being myself, that I deserved this and that it was only right I take the gloves,” Maignan told Telefoot during a special segment dedicated to him.
“People often say that penalties are a lottery, but I instead believe it is a psychological duel. The most important thing is your mental strength.”
His career was derailed last season by a calf injury that took far longer than expected to recover from and forced him to miss out on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“It was my first really serious injury and that was a truly tough time for me. I worked hard to recover, but these are things that leave a mark on you. I worked with a trainer who told me to go beyond my limits and think like a superman.”
During the Telefoot special, they also interviewed some of his France teammates to ask about how Maignan has influenced the squad.
“Personally, I think he is the best goalkeeper in the world,” said Kingsley Coman.
Antoine Griezmann explained that France have changed the way they defend on set plays because of Maignan’s instructions, although the rest of the time he is remarkably quiet.
Olivier Giroud is Maignan’s teammate both for France and Milan, so knows him better than anyone.
“Mike is a very calm and relaxed person off the field. On it, he is the complete opposite.”