Mathieu Acapandié (born 14 December 2004) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

Club career

Acapandié began playing football in his native

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

with EF Saint-Pierre and CO Saint-Pierre, before trialing in Metropolitan France in January 2018 with

where he eventually formally joined. He signed his first professional contract with Nantes on 31 March 2022 until 2025, becoming the youngest Réunionnais player to ever sign a pro contract. He made his senior and professional debut with Nantes as a late substitute in a 1–1 (4–2) penalty shootout win over

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

on 8 February 2023.

International career

Acapandié is a youth international for France, having played up to the France U19s.

Personal life

Acapandié's cousins, William Gros and

Vincent Acapandié Vincent Acapandié (born 9 February 1990) is a French footballer who plays for French club AS Excelsior. He plays as a right-sided defender who can also play as a midfielder. He is a French youth international having represented his nation at ...

, are also a professional footballers.

Playing style

Acapandié began playing as a striker, before moving to

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

for a long time, then

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, followed by

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

, before finally settling as a

. He is an offensive full-back who runs a lot and like to relay with the midfielders.

References

External links

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FFF Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acapandie, Mathieu 2004 births Living people People from Saint-Pierre, Réunion French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers French people of Malagasy descent Men's footballers from Réunion Sportsmen from Réunion Men's association football fullbacks FC Nantes players Championnat National 2 players