World Cup: Top 5 Golden Glove winners

Iker Casillas (Spain, 2010)

Netherlands v Spain: 2010 FIFA World Cup Final

Iker Casillas’ contribution to Spain’s World Cup victory in 2010 is often overlooked, yet the erstwhile Real Madrid goalkeeper was considered to integral to coach Vicente Del Bosque’s plans that he was their captain. Indeed, when he lifted the trophy for La Roja he became just the third shot-stopper ever to do so, following in the footsteps of Italians Gianpiero Combi in 1934 and Dino Zoff in 1982.

Spain’s progress to the final was certainly not serene. They won tight fixtures against Honduras and Chile in the group stage after surprisingly losing their opener to Switzerland, while thereafter it required four 1-0 victories to see them to success.

Indeed, they never won a single fixture in that competition by more than a goal, while four of their five wins were by 1-0 and the other was a 2-1.

If their performance offensively was not spectacular, at the back they were formidable, and much of that was due to the assurance that Casillas gave them.

Moreover, when they flirted with disaster, most notably when they conceded a penalty to Paraguay in the quarter-final, their iconic goalkeeper came up with the goods, making a save from the spot to steer his side through.

In the aftermath of the victory, he caught the headlines further as he kissed sports journalist and girlfriend Sara Carbonero in a live post-match interview.