5 modern goalkeepers who deserved the Ballon d'Or

#4 Iker Casillas Spain and Real Madrid

San (Saint) Iker - as he is known and worshipped by his legion of fans - is the archetypal hero having grown up through the ranks of his hometown club to become the undisputed no. 1 for club (Real Madrid) and country (Spain). By the age of 19 and 21 his athleticism, agility, reflexes and blinding speed, saw him become first choice for both Madrid and Spain respectively an unprecedented move considering just how flooded with talent the two teams have always been, and just how hard it is for a young goalie to break into the senior teams starting eleven at any level!

He became the youngest goalkeeper to win a Champions league in 1999- 00 and would go on to win it twice more (most recently last year in 2013-14) and win 5 domestic league titles as he grew into a cult hero for the Madridistas. Owning the box with speed and athleticism, Casillas was virtually unbeatable for a major part of the last decade; this logic defying save - where he scrambled from one post to the other to keep outwhat should have been a tap-in, in a vital match against Sevilla in 2009 - showing the world just how good he was

While the world celebrated the smooth passing and lovely movement of the dominant Spaniards as they tiki-taka ed their way to back to back Euros and a WC in between, few could overlook the absolutely pivotal role that Casillas played in the team.In the 2010 World Cup final, Andres Iniesta stole all the headlines for his brilliant injury time winner, but the match would never have reached that point if Casillas had not kept his wits and skills about him when faced with a flying Arjen Robben one-on- one deep in normal time. Casillas pulled off a stunning save to keep his team in the match and give Iniesta the opportunity to do what he so gloriously did.

After Euro 2012, Casillas had a strange dip in form and when a power struggle with Jose Mourinho left him out of the starting eleven at Madrid (at least in La Liga), his form and confidence took another big blow. The great man has been uncharacteristically error prone ever since (notable in the Champions League Final and against Holland in the World Cup).

Although he has the skill, courage and determination to make it back to his previous peaks, it does look like we have already seen the best of Saint Iker.

Select individual honours Five consecutive IFFHS Goalkeeper of the year award (08-12), Yashin Award (10), UEFA goalkeeper of the year (10), La Liga Goalkeeper of the year award (08)

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