The Paris Saint-Germain men's and women's team play the same opponent on Saturday, Montpellier. Backstopping both teams will be two of the game's top exponents of the goalkeeping art.
Keylor Navas and Christiane Endler share a lot in common: they're both national team captains, play in the same position, and both come from Latin America. Navas, the Costa Rican, is very happy to see fellow South Americans like Chilean Endler follow him to Europe and succeed.
"It's very good that here in Paris we have a goalkeeper from Central America and one from South America. I think that in our countries we always try to make that jump over to Europe to join a big club. So I believe God has blessed us in being here and we need to enjoy it. For all of us from that side of the Atlantic, when we're little, it's a dream to make such an important step and now we've done it, we have to enjoy it as much as possible."
While Keylor is in his first season, Christiane is into her third in the French capital: "It's the same thing for me, it's an honour to be here, that the club spotted someone who comes from so far away. It's always a bit more difficult for us to get to Europe and be seen by big clubs. It's difficult, and it's a dream come true for me, to be able to play the best clubs in women's football. I hope to be able to do my best to help the team."
Aware of the importance of the position, Keylor Navas has his own way of approaching a game in order to get himself in the best possible frame of mind. "It's a question of concentration, because you always have to be in the game, try to be attentive. In my case, I always try to speak to my teammates, to shout a a lot, to correct certain positions and movements, to be aware of potential moves by opposing forwards, and that helps me be focussed, to be in the game and when the time comes for me to work, always to do it with that intensity, with that necessary tension to be able to respond."
It's a mentality that serves him well. Take the Champions League performance against Real Madrid in which he made ten saves, the most of a Paris goalkeeper in the last 15 years.
Christiane too has made a successful start to the season with the women's team in second place and boasting the second best defence. It's a stat that shows her impact on the team, and she too places a lot of stock in communication, notably with captain Irene Paredes. "It's important to have a good relations. Fortunately, she directs the defence and speaks Spanish, so we can communicate well. But I think it's important to communicate well with the whole defence. That they know I'm behind them, always focussed and ready to play my role. It gives them the necessary confidence to play more freely. It's always important to have good communication."
For Christiane, Keylor's main quality is his natural talent and his reactions in the goal: "I like his agility, his speed of movement and his reactions. He's a goalkeeper who is always attentive to what is happening and to the speed at which he has to act, I love that."
Navas highlights the mental strength of his counterpart in the big games they face: "I think she deserves what is happening to her. No-one has made it easy for her. I think that forges the character of a goalkeeper. I think we all know her qualities, but there is something else that's important: the mentality, personality, being able to be focussed on the game. Playing for a big team isn't easy, and being capable of standing up to be counted when necessary, knowing that you have to go from 0 to 100 so quickly, is tough to do. I think she does it well. It's important to know how to be, because there are goalkeepers who are very good, but who can't do what it takes when the time comes. She manages to do that, and it's really admirable. She makes it look easy, which it isn't at all. That's when you realise just how talented she is."
The two goalkeepers face the same opponent this Saturday with the same goal: winning. "The men and the women both want to win," says Keylor. "And I think we have to impose that desire every minute. It would be great if they win their game and I know they'll be just as happy if we win ours. We have to show what Paris Saint-Germain is, that we're a big club. But have to show humility, calmness, have the confidence that we can do well and that we can win, both the men and the women."
"It's also important to do this kind of thing and to involve the women's team with the men's team, because we're playing the same opponents. It's nice to see them a little more," says Christiane. "I think it's important for the club and it makes it bigger because of the importance it places in women's football and by integrating it more and more. It's a very good initiative by PSG, I take my hat off to them."