Mickaël Landreau

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Mickaël Landreau
Personal information
Full name	Mickaël Landreau
Date of birth	May 14, 1979 (age 27)
Place of birth	Machecoul, France
Height	1.84 m (6' 0")
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Paris Saint-Germain
Number	1
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996-2006 2006-present	Nantes Paris Saint-Germain	335 (0) 12 (0)
National team2
2001-	France	4 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 8, 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of October 23, 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Mickaël Landreau (born May 14, 1979 in Machecoul) is a French professional football (soccer) player in the position of goalkeeper, who currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain in the French Ligue 1 championship. He has played four matches for the French national team.

Landreau has good reflexes, safe hands and a character that made him team captain of childhood club FC Nantes Atlantique. Such qualities allow him to turn unfavourable conditions in his favour vis-a-vis dangerous attackers. Landreau is best known for his performances at saving penalty kicks. He has stopped more than 30 penalties in his career.

[edit] Biography

Landreau graduated from the FC Nantes Atlantique "Centre of Excellence" in La Jonelière. His first professional match for Nantes was a 0-0 draw against SC Bastia in 1996. Since 1996, he remained a mainstay in the Nantes starting line-up, and consistently produced excellent performances. He was selected to represent the France youth national team at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Having won two consecutive French Cup trophies in 1999 and 2000, Landreau and Nantes were crowned 2001 Ligue 1 champions. In the semi-final of the 2004 French Cup, Landreau produced several saves, but to no avail as the team could not score and were eliminated from the competition. At the end of the 2005-06 Ligue 1 season, Landreau's contract with Nantes was set to expire. He gave a press conference and announced that after thirteen years, he would leave FC Nantes to meet new challenges in a more important team. He then joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on a free transfer, signing a four-years contract on May 15, 2006.

The Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper and team captain was called up to the French squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup by French national team manager Raymond Domenech. He wore the number 1 shirt for France at the tournament, despite being third-choice keeper behind Fabien Barthez and Grégory Coupet. Landreau is now second choice behind Coupet even though Barthez, who had retired after the World Cup, returned to professional football (ironically, with Nantes) in December 2006.

[edit] Honours

• French champion: 2001
• Coupe de France: 1999 and 2000
• Trophée Des Champions: 1999 and 2001
• 2006 FIFA World Cup: Runner-up

[edit] External links

• (French) FFF profile
• (French) PSG profile

	France squad - 2004 European Football Championship Quarter-finalists
1 Landreau | 2 Boumsong | 3 Lizarazu | 4 Vieira | 5 Gallas | 6 Makélélé | 7 Pirès | 8 Desailly | 9 Saha | 10 Zidane | 11 Wiltord | 12 Henry | 13 Silvestre | 14 Rothen | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Dacourt | 18 Pedretti | 19 Sagnol | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Marlet | 22 Govou | 23 Coupet | Coach: Santini

	France squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Runners-up
1 Landreau | 2 Boumsong | 3 Abidal | 4 Vieira | 5 Gallas | 6 Makélélé | 7 Malouda | 8 Dhorasoo | 9 Govou | 10 Zidane | 11 Wiltord | 12 Henry | 13 Silvestre | 14 Saha | 15 Thuram | 16 Barthez | 17 Givet | 18 Diarra | 19 Sagnol | 20 Trézéguet | 21 Chimbonda | 22 Ribéry | 23 Coupet | Coach: Domenech