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Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana opens up on being made to feel like an 'outcast', his struggles during the drugs ban for an honest mistake and how footballing Godfather Edwin van der Sar helped him shake off nerves

There is something special about a goalkeeper’s mentality – how else could they handle the wild swings from adulation to vilification. Andre Onana has been on a rollercoaster ever since he graduated from Samuel Eto’o’s academy in Cameroon and moved to Barcelona aged 14.

He went on to make his name at Ajax under Manchester United goalkeeping legend Edwin van der Sar, lost a Europa League final against United while still just 19, and a Champions League semi-final in the last seconds against Spurs.

But nothing could prepare him for what happened this year when he was banned from football for nine months after mistaking one of his wife’s pills for a headache tablet.