Full name Alphonse Areola 2002–2006 Petits Anges Weight 88 kg Number 13 Height 1.91 m | Playing position Role Footballer Place of birth Paris, France Name Alphonse Areola Career start 2013 | |
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Date of birth (1993-02-27) 27 February 1993 (age 22) Current team Villarreal CF (#13 / Goalkeeper) Similar People Hervin Ongenda, Salvatore Sirigu, Jean‑Christophe Bahebeck, Nicolas Douchez, Adrien Rabiot Profiles | ||
David Alaba + Alphonse Areola | The Philippines
Alphonse Areola (born 27 February 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. An academy graduate of PSG, he spent the early parts of his career on loan, enjoying spells with Lens, Bastia and La Liga side, Villarreal. During his stint with the latter, Areola broke the club record for the longest period of play without conceding a goal, remaining unbeaten for a period of 620 minutes.
Contents
- David Alaba Alphonse Areola The Philippines
- Early career
- 201316 Loans to Lens Bastia and Villarreal
- 201617 season Return to PSG
- International career
- France national youth teams
- France senior national team
- Club
- International
- Individual
- References
He also represented France at every youth level and was part of the France U20 side that won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2013.
Early career
Areola began playing football at the age of six for Entente Sportive des Petits Anges and spent seven years at his local club before signing for Ligue 1 side, Paris Saint-Germain. When Areola was 15, and upon the advice of coaches in Paris, he enrolled at the Clairefontaine football centre in order to further his development. He returned to PSG the following year and signed his first professional contract with the Parisians in July 2009, putting pen to paper on a three year deal.
On 18 May 2013, having progressed through the club's academy, Areola made his senior debut for PSG, replacing first-choice goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu in the 48th minute of a 3–1 home win over Brest. PSG had been crowned Ligue 1 champions prior to the match and their opponents were already relegated. He made his first start for the club the following weekend in a 3–1 win over Lorient, playing 61 minutes in what was the final match of the season before being substituted for fourth-choice 'keeper Ronan Le Crom, who was sent off later in the match for a foul on Julien Quercia.
2013–16: Loans to Lens, Bastia and Villarreal
On 23 July 2013 he was loaned to Ligue 2 side RC Lens, who were managed by former PSG manager Antoine Kombouaré, for the 2013–14 Ligue 1 season. Areola immediately displaced Rudy Riou as the club's starting 'keeper and made 36 appearances for the campaign, included in which was his Coupe de France debut. He also helped the club to a second place finish in the league, thereby earning promotion to Ligue 1. Areola's performances throughout the course of the season earned him the Ligue 2 Goalkeeper of the Year award and a spot in the Team of the Season. Areola was also awarded the Eurosport Revelation of the Year award, beating the likes of N'Golo Kante and Gaëtan Bussmann. A verbal agreement was in place for Areola to remain with Sang et Or on loan for the following season but the club's financial position raised concerns with the League's National Directorate of Management Control and ultimately put pay to the possibility of him returning.
Areola would get a chance in Ligue 1, however, as Claude Makélélé's Bastia stepped in to sign him on loan for the 2014–15 Ligue 1 campaign, with the deal being completed on 26 July 2014. Signed as the replacement for the retired Mickaël Landreau, he made his debut for the club on 9 August in a 3–3 draw with Marseille. Areola ultimately made 39 appearances across all competitions for the club, keeping 13 clean sheets as Bastia ended the Ligue 1 season in 12th place and as runners-up in the Coupe de la Ligue. The Final, which took place on 11 April, was contested between Bastia and Areola's parent club PSG, with the match ending 4–0 in favour of the Parisians.
On 17 June 2015, La Liga side Villarreal announced the signing of Areola on season-long loan as a replacement for regular 'keeper Sergio Asenjo who had suffered a long-term injury the season before. He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the season in a 1-1 draw with Real Betis. At Villarreal, Areola enhanced his burgeoning reputation by keeping 15 clean sheets in 37 matches and conceding only 26 goals as the club ended the season in fourth place in La Liga. His clean-sheet tally for the league season was bettered by only two goalkeepers, Jan Oblak of Atlético Madrid, and Claudio Bravo of Barcelona. Areola also broke the club record of 615 minutes of football played without conceding a goal which was previously held by Diego López, ultimately going 620 minutes unbeaten before conceding against Las Palmas. Outside of domestic football, the Frenchman featured in the Europa League for the first time in his career, making five appearances as El Submarino Amarillo reached the semi-finals where they lost out to eventual runners-up, Liverpool.
2016–17 season: Return to PSG
Following his successful stint in Spain, Areola returned to PSG for the 2016–17 Ligue 1 season. He began the campaign as understudy to German keeper Kevin Trapp, who had signed the season before, and was in PSG's match-day squad for their 4–1 Trophée des Champions victory over Lyon. He made his first appearance following his return on 13 September in a 1–1 Champions League draw with Arsenal, in what was also his debut in the competition. Following the match against Arsenal, Areola established himself as PSG's first-choice goalkeeper and had kept four clean sheets in eight appearances by mid-October. However, he suffered a downturn in form soon after and ultimately relinquished his place to Trapp after a string of matches in December in which he conceded 10 goals from just 11 shots faced. In April the following year, he was an unused substitute as PSG beat Monaco 4–1 to claim a record fourth straight Coupe de la Ligue title but started in a 1–0 win over Angers which saw PSG lift the Coupe de France title the following month.
He earned his second Trophée des Champions medal on 29 July 2017, starting in a 2–1 win over Monaco which saw PSG claim their fifth consecutive title.
International career
Areola has played for France at all youth levels. He is also eligible to play for the Philippine senior team due to his parents being both of Filipino heritage and in 2011 was personally invited by team manager Dan Palami to consider playing for the national team.
France national youth teams
Areola represented France at every youth level from U16 to U21 between 2008 and 2014. He was the hero for France in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup Final. Having ended goalless after extra-time, the match went to a penalty shoot out where Areola saved spot-kicks from Uruguay's Emiliano Velázquez and Giorgian De Arrascaeta to lead his nation to their first ever triumph in the tournament. He had previously featured for France at the 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship's, and subsequently at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
France senior national team
On 1 October 2015, Areola received his first call-up to the senior team by manager Didier Deschamps for friendlies against Armenia and Denmark as part of the French team's build-up to hosting UEFA Euro 2016. He failed to make the tournament squad, however, but would later be called up to the senior squad again on three separate occasions for France's friendlies and World Cup qualifiers in September through to November 2016, although he was forced to withdraw from the latter squad after spraining his ankle.
Club
As of match played 12 September 20171 Includes Coupe de France and Copa del Rey matches.
2 Includes Coupe de la Ligue matches.
3 Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.
4 Includes Trophée des Champions matches.