Steeve Elana (born 11 July 1980) is a 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

FC Martigues Football Club de Martigues, known as FC Martigues or just Martigues, is a French professional football club which plays in the Championnat National, the third level of football in France. The club plays at the Stade Francis Turcan, which has a ...

and the

Martinique national football team The Martinique football team (french: Équipe de Martinique de football) represents the French overseas department and region of Martinique in international football. The team is controlled by the Ligue de Football de la Martinique ( en, Martin ...

. He previously played for

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

in the French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

. He became first choice goalkeeper for Lille after the departure of

Mickaël Landreau Mickaël Vincent André-Marie Landreau (; born 14 May 1979) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Landreau holds the record for Ligue 1 appearances, with 618 for Nantes, Paris Saint-Germain, Lil ...

. However, he was displaced in 2013–14 by the Nigerian international

Vincent Enyeama Vincent Enyeama (born 29 August 1982) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Despite his below-average height for a goalkeeper, he is popularly regarded as one of the greatest African goalkeepers of all time a ...

International career

Born in France, Elana is of Martiniquais and Guinean descent. In March 2019, 38-year-old Elana was called up to the Guinea national team, having previously played internationally for

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

which is a non-FIFA member. He was unable to get a Guinean passport, as he was not able to confirm the Guinean village his grandparents came from.

References

External links

* * 1980 births Living people Association football goalkeepers Sportspeople from Aubervilliers Martiniquais footballers Martinique international footballers 2014 Caribbean Cup players French footballers French people of Martiniquais descent French sportspeople of Guinean descent Martiniquais people of Guinean descent Sportspeople of Guinean descent ASOA Valence players Stade Malherbe Caen players Stade Brestois 29 players US Marseille Endoume players Lille OSC players Gazélec Ajaccio players Tours FC players SO Cholet players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players Footballers from Seine-Saint-Denis Black French sportspeople {{France-footy-goalkeeper-stub