Antonio Mirante revealed a bit about some of his AC Milan team-mates and reflected on his illustrious career to this point during the latest ‘Unlocker Room’ podcast.
Mirante might have been a bit of a background figure at Milan over the past couple of years, but he was given a very fitting send-off on Saturday night as he made his final appearance for the club during the 3-3 draw with Salernitana.
He joined Milan as an emergency option in the 2021-22 season when Mike Maignan suffered an injury which kept him out for nine games and he made his debut in the final game of 2022-23, coming off the bench for what many thought was a ceremonial farewell.
However, he was given another one-year deal by the club and remained as the third choice. After starting the game against Salernitana – his third appearance for the club – Milan announced Mirante’s departure on social media.
In the new third episode of ‘Unlocker Room – The Rossoneri Podcast’, Mirante was the man interviewed as he gave what was ultimately a reflection on his time at Milan.
You are a career first choice goalkeeper loaned to the role of being third choice…
“Let’s say that in the football imagination, anyone who is a third goalkeeper like me is obviously at the end of his career. I was lucky enough to arrive at a great club, in my first year we also won the Scudetto so I’m ending my career in a fantastic way.
“I think everyone in my place would be happy to end it like this, especially those who play my role, which is much longer-lived. In July I will be 41, then we’ll see… I’m not saying I’ll stop, but then we’ll see. In any case, it’s a very beautiful and unexpected ending.”
What kind of a figure is ‘the goalkeeper’?
“It’s a hierarchical role, but contrary to what it was in the past and contrary to what people think… You know, the third goalkeeper is seen as the one who brings together the group, who brings a bit of laughter and who acts as a glue, who knows how to manage some moments…
“But the only way to raise the level is to push. If at 40 I train hard and well everyone else is almost obliged to push and train hard. This is the first thing. Then there is no question that due to my role and experience I have to do a little more in some moments.
“And it’s also right to give my shoulder to my colleagues, I’ve passed moments before them. Even if football has changed, the moments of a season are almost similar to the past. It is obvious that I must be a great professional, after which I must be available to my colleagues.
“As regards the part of the mini group of goalkeepers, it is true, this must necessarily be the case because this mini team must think together about bringing points to Milan. Because in any case it is a fundamental role.
“It requires a great sense of responsibility and if you face it with awareness of your means, and with personality you must know that you have to bring points. The higher the level of the team, the higher the level of this mini family must be.”
Who was your favourite third choice goalkeeper?
“I don’t even remember some, I’ve been around so many teams! In most of the teams I played for, the third goalkeeper was a young player from the Primavera team who joined the First Team. I’m definitely the strongest (laughs).”
What is Mike Maignan like?
“Mike is a boxer, he has the concentration of a boxer and has the physique of I don’t know what animal… He’s strong, fast, flexible. The save he made in Verona where he ends up with his legs very wide, I hurt myself watching it!
“He is an incredible athlete combined with absurd mental qualities, a goalkeeper of the highest level that I currently place in the top three in the world. Even though our role is a reaction role, where you still have to react to many things.
“He knows that he has to act in a certain way to prepare to react in a certain way. He is a very balanced person, with a great personality but also very sensitive both in our group and with the other guys. He knows how to feel good in a group.”
And Marco Sportiello?
“I knew him as a goalkeeper, he surprised me with his friendliness, he is a total madman. Crazy in a good way. He surprised me when he came on in a Champions League match in the 85th minute… one thinks that the second goalkeeper has to do that, be ready as soon as the first one gets hurt.
“There is a gulf between saying and doing, and I have to be honest, it’s something I envy in him. And it’s not because if one day I were to suddenly enter it I would probably do badly, but precisely because of this ability that he had. This is a symptom of great training, of great certainties.”
How did this situation come about where the starting goalkeeper only starts warming up after the others?
“Whoever doesn’t play goes in first. In fact, Tony Roberts took a lot of abuse for this. When we played against Verona, Sportiello played because Mike was injured. Beautiful day, at a certain point it started to rain.
“Lapo Nava and I were already out warming up and at a certain point I felt a ‘knock’ on my head. Two minutes, hail storm. I look at Tony Roberts to tell him to go inside. He screams: ‘Noooo! F**king mentality’.
“I signal him to just go inside (laughs). But it’s more of a belief that he brought, at the beginning I was a little reluctant. But it’s right that it should be like this, even the second and third goalkeepers have the opportunity to warm up in this way.”
Do you have an anecdote about the Scudetto?
“One thing I remember well is that once we were in the gym and I think there were 10 games left to go, we were still behind. Florenzi, who had just won the European Championship, tells me ‘Do you know that I feel the same magic, something similar to last summer?’.
“I turned around and said to him ‘Are you okay? Because we are behind…’. And he says to me: ‘Yes, take a good look and then tell me’.
“After 2 or 3 games I told him ‘I didn’t feel the match last summer because I wasn’t there, but do you know that maybe you’re right?’. So when there is something there is something…”
So where did you watch Bologna-Inter?
“I’d keep an eye on it every now and then… You know when you know that everyone has the belief that they don’t know how to bring bad luck… As soon as you look at it, those owls score goals, so it’s better not to look (laughs)”
