Having your statue or mural is something that every aspiring footballer dreams of and Andre Onana recently achieved that when a mural was unveiled in his honour.
But why is it surprising everyone? His mixed debut season with Manchester United isn’t the reason why social media is losing their minds over it. The answer is in the location of the mural.
To add to the list of random events in the world of football, it was not unveiled in his native country nor in Manchester, but in Mexico.
On Sunday, Andre Onana was honored with a mural in the city of Leon, Guanajuato. Mayor Alejandra Gutierrez Campos was present to unveil the painted wall and to return the favour, the goalkeeper gifted her with a signed jersey.
The vibrant mural is located in front of the Leon Fair facilities, next to the Real de Minas hotel on Adolfo Lopez Mateos Boulevard.
But what was he doing in Mexico, and why exactly did he get a mural there?
The reason is his gloves.
The former Ajax keeper’s gloves are manufactured by a Mexican company named, Rinat. Based in Leon, Mexico, the glove manufacturing company arranged an event presented by Keeper Kombat at State Sports Stadium.
Club Leon’s hometown hero Rodolfo Cota was also present alongside Onana.
The aim of the event was to give promising goalkeepers and kids first-hand experience of how a keeper trains.
While not many details of Onana’s deal with Rinat are available, it can be assumed by the 28-year-old’s Instagram activities that the two linked up somewhere around October 2022.
Since then, Onana has regularly tagged Rinat in all of his posts involving footballing activities.
‘Grateful to all the people of León and Guanajuato for their warm welcome and for having a great experience, I really enjoyed the #KeeperKombat. Thank you Rinat family! See you soon, Mexico,’ Onana wrote in an X (fka Twitter) post.
Onana didn’t only dazzle the crowd with his goalkeeping exploits, but also left important messages for the next generation of keepers and footballers.
‘I have my philosophy,’ Onana said. ‘I always say that I never lose, win or learn and that is what I want to leave to the young people here in Keeper Kombat. For me it will always be important to continue learning and I think that is the most important thing. I want to leave a positive mentality in young people.’
The Manchester United custodian also shared his roots and how he succeeded at the highest level. ‘I come from a very humble family, football has given me a lot and the advice I can give is to always make an effort and work for what you want; With dedication they can really get where they want to go,’ said the Cameroonian.
His first season with Manchester United has been a turbulent one, but it ended on a high with the FA Cup win. Throughout the season, Onana was heavily criticised for his errors in goal, but he took accountability for it whenever faced with questions.
‘You know, and we all have to take responsibility. I start with myself always. But, uh, it has been a difficult season,’ Onana said to MUTV after a draw against Burnley in late April.
It’s a much-needed break for the players ahead of pre-season and with no national duties in sight, Onana can focus on full recovery before the next season.
