Dijon FCO goalkeeper Saturnin Allagbé is not yet at the peak of his career. The player who will soon be 28 still dreams of his career as a goalkeeper. This is what he revealed in an interview with the French newspaper Chouet Info.
Beninese international Saturnin Allagbe is currently experiencing one of the worst moments of his career. Recruited by Dijon from Niort where he had even become captain, the Beninese goalkeeper went from holder to replacement status. This since the arrival of David Linares at the head of the technical staff of Dijon. But this current bad patch is far from erasing from the memory of the native of Assaba the good memories of his football career. It was in 2014 that Saturnin saw one of his teenage dreams come true. What remains until then one of his fondest memories.
“There are a lot of them but the one that really marked me was when I left Benin to sign my professional contract in Niort. I had to sign one year, finally I signed three years. When you play in Africa, the dream is to join a European club. It was a first step taken for me. I was expecting it and it happened at the right time, ”he said.
In 2003-2004, while he was preparing his young future career at the age of 18, it was as a happy viewer that Saturnin Allagbe attended Benin’s first qualification for an African Cup of Nations in 2004. “In front of my television, I remember being happy with a victory for the national team. I was at the training center, Benin had obtained their first qualification for an African Cup of Nations in 2004. It was historic so it marked me. ”, Allagbe recalled.
15 years later, Saturnin Allagbe was one of the architects of Benin’s qualification for its 4th CAN in history. Heroic during this competition in 2019 in Egypt, the Dijon player allowed Benin to reach the quarter-finals for the first time. Today, his dream is to lift a trophy with the Squirrels. “My biggest dream is to win a competition with my national team. Defending the colors of his nation is something important in the career of a footballer. I hope that we will already qualify for the next CAN. ”Hopes the player who will soon be 28 years old.
Very attached to the national team, Saturnin presents the captain of the Squirrels as the great player with whom he has evolved. “He’s my captain in the national team. Stéphane Sessegnon is a player whom I admired in front of my television, then with whom I had the chance to play. He’s one of the best I’ve ever played with. He is very strong technically and fast. ”, He confided.
With several more years ahead of him, Saturnin Allagbe knows he still has room for improvement. He also found himself the best source of inspiration for his career as a goalkeeper. “Currently, it’s Manuel Neuer. He is a complete goalkeeper who masters the most parameters. He has a particular style and he is inspiring, ”admits the former ASPAC player.
Now replacing in Dijon, the number 2 goalkeeper in the national team is working to regain his starting status. Although Dijon is more than ever close to relegation, it nurtures the ambition to regain its level to afford why not a new point of fall.
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