Iker Casillas: He never gave up, he never will

Iker Casillas: He’s not letting that one go in

“I am a winner whose work is based on humility.” – Iker Casillas

International Icon:

Iker Casillas Fernández, the captain of the Spanish national football team and Real Madrid, is without a shadow of doubt, one of the best goal keepers for over a decade now.

Born on 20^th May 1981, Iker Casillas started his career in the youth system of Real Madrid during the 1990-91 season. In the 1999-00 season, Casillas left behind Bodo Illgner to the bench and became the first choice goalkeeper for Real Madrid. During that season, Iker Casillas started showing his skills and impressed one and all.

Following his stellar performances at the club level, Iker Casillas worked hard and forced everyone into noticing this young talent and eventually got called up for the Spain national team. And currently, Casillas is the most capped player in the history of the Spanish national team; he made his international debut against Sweden in the year 2000.

Casillas captained the Spain national team for the Euro 2008 campaign and played a key role in eliminating Italy in the quarterfinals, after he saved two penalties in the shootout. And Spain went on to win the Euro 2008 and Casillas being the first goal keeper to lift that trophy as a captain. In the same year, Casillas was named the world’s best goal keeper by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

Casillas guided Spain to their first ever World Cup title in the year 2010. He also captained Spain in the Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 win.

Iker and his tryst with Insurance:

These are worth millions

“If I damage my knee, I’ll pretend that my hand hurts.” said Iker Casillas jokingly after signing an insurance deal.

In the year 2007, Iker Casillas got his hands insured for about €7.5mn, which at that time were equal to a whopping $10mn through Groupama Insurance. Groupma representatives went a step further and jokingly asked the strikers “not to shoot very hard.”

Club Legend:

Stop right there!

Casillas became the youngest goal keeper ever to play in the Champions League final against Valencia in 2000, he managed to keep a clean sheet, guiding Real Madrid to a thumping 3-0 win.

And again in the 2002 Champions League final, Casillas came on as a substitute for César Sánchez who suffered injury during the ending of the game, and Casillas pulled off some stunning saves to deny Bayer Leverkusen victory and instead help Real Madrid win the Champions League.

Iker Casillas continued to be the first choice keeper for Real Madrid and kept guiding them to vital wins. In the year 2008, the then club captain Raúl González and Iker Casillas were awarded contracts for life with Real Madrid.

Casillas is Real Madrid’s most capped goal keeper of all time, a distinction he earned when he was only 27 years old. In the year 2012, Casillas won the La Liga with Real Madrid as a captain for the first time.

Troubled times at the club:

What am I doing on the bench?

In the 2012-13 La Liga season, Iker Casillas was dropped in a match against Malaga in favour of Antonio Adán, the reserve goalkeeper of Real Madrid by José Mourinho. There were several disagreements between the Real Madrid coach and Casillas. And Mourinho brought in another goal keeper in the next transfer window, Diego Lopez from Sevilla. And it did not take Lopez much time to start as Real Madrid’s first choice goal keeper in place of Casillas.

Once the season ended it was announced that Mourinho would be leaving Real Madrid in favour of Chelsea FC, and Carlo Ancelotti would take over as Real Madrid’s coach. But there was no respite for Casillas, as once the season started, he found a place on the bench again.

Casillas started his first match in 238 days against Galatasaray in the Champions League, but as fate would have it, he got injured in just the 14^th minute of the game after a collision with one of his own team mate and good friend, Sergio Ramos.

However, Casillas started the game against FC Copenhagen and Juventus in the Champions League and continued till the end.

The treatment being meted out to one of the best goal keepers we have currently, has definitely been unfair, but going by the determination and patience of the man himself – Iker Casillas, his fans should breathe a sigh of relief and gear up for his ultimate comeback.