Aurélien Tchouaméni: Meet the French soccer star everyone is talking about
The French goalkeeper’s stunning form is sparking comparisons to the greatest goalkeepers ever
The past week in the French league has seen at least one player make big news as Paris Saint-Germain, with their goalkeeper, Aurélien Tchouaméni, has been featured in the papers due to his incredible goalkeeping form.
He has done it in what is arguably the toughest league in Europe – the French Ligue 1 – to the point that everyone is asking when the time is going to come for him to step outside of the box and take on the mantle of ‘best French goalkeeper ever’.
Tchouaméni is on a mission to be crowned as the best and in an exclusive interview with us he talks of how he has come to this position and how he could one day be the best in the world.
Here is the story of the man who has the perfect combination of talent, tenacity, and attitude that will be used to his advantage as he makes his mark on world soccer.
What is your full name? I’m Aurélien Tchouaméni.
At your age, and what does the ‘Aurélien’ mean? It’s actually a word which I made out in a magazine when I was twelve and it used to be my favourite word. It’s a pretty weird word because it is literally the root of a French phrase which means ‘the right person at the right time’. Aurélien in French literally means ‘the right time’ and I suppose that was the first time I saw it on the cover of a magazine and I just thought it was pretty cool”, he smiles.
So how did you get into football? I was born in Orléan, a small city about 45 minutes from Béziers, which is the most important city for the French League. I think when you come from a small town like that, you are naturally attracted to football and I started playing at thirteen or fourteen years old, with other kids on an amateur level. I played with a real amateur coach named Claude Barrozat who had a lot of influence behind the scenes because he was a very good coach. I played at the �