Fernando Muslera

Néstor Fernando Muslera Micol (born 16 June 1986) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Süper Lig club Galatasaray, which he captains, and the Uruguay national team.

Muslera began his career at Montevideo Wanderers and Nacional, moving to Lazio in 2007 where he won the 2009 Coppa Italia Final.

After impressive performances for Wanderers, Uruguayan giants Nacional opted to take him on loan in 2007.

After a display of successful performances, he began to attract attention from European clubs, and signed for Lazio in 2007.

Lazio signed Muslera in August 2007 for a fee of approximately €3 million.

He made his debut for Lazio in a 3–1 home win against Cagliari on 16 September 2007, and made four more consecutive starts, the last which was a disastrous performance in Lazio's 5–1 home loss to Milan on 7 October, a match in which he was at fault on four of the five goals Lazio conceded.

That result saw him benched in favour of 44-year-old Marco Ballotta.

He remained as the second-choice for the remainder of the season, making only four more Serie A appearances and none in the UEFA Champions League.

However, he did play all of Lazio's remaining Coppa Italia matches, putting in good performances.

Muslera began the 2008–09 season as second-choice goalkeeper behind new signing Juan Pablo Carrizo, but regained the starting spot in January 2009 following a run of poor form by Carrizo, coupled with conflicts with team management.

Muslera's first starting appearance in the Serie A season saw him make several saves in a 3–1 loss to Sampdoria, including saving an Antonio Cassano penalty.

Further impressive performances in away wins over Napoli and Genoa, as well as in his first ever Derby della Capitale against Roma, saw Muslera regain a considerable amount of faith he had lost the previous season.

Known to the Lazio fans as "Castorino", or the "Little Beaver", Muslera was also an integral part of the club's successful 2008–09 Coppa Italia campaign, making decisive saves against Milan and Juventus as Lazio reached the final for the first time in five seasons.

Muslera played in goal as Lazio opened the season with a 2–1 win over 2008–09 Serie A champions Internazionale in the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana, played in Beijing.

A full international since 2009, Muslera has earned over 130 caps for Uruguay.

In the final on 13 May 2009, Muslera saved two penalties as Lazio emerged victorious 6–5 in the shootout after the match ended 1–1 in extra time.

The Uruguayan's impressive season saw him cement his position as the Roman club's first choice in the 2009–10 season, despite the arrival of Argentine goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri on a free transfer.

Following his successful performance in the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Uruguay, Muslera was voted the seventh-best goalkeeper in the world by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.

In 2011, he was signed by Galatasaray for a fee of around €12 million, where he has since won honours which include six Süper Lig titles, four Turkish Cups and five Turkish Super Cups.

He has played in five Copa América tournaments, winning the title in 2011, and played every minute in goal for Uruguay as the country's undisputed number one in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 FIFA World Cups, helping his nation to fourth place in the 2010 edition.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Muslera moved with his family to Montevideo where he began his professional football career with Montevideo Wanderers, having come through the club's youth system.

On 19 July 2011, Turkish Süper Lig club Galatasaray announced the signing of Muslera from Lazio on a five-year contract while he was on duty in the 2011 Copa América with Uruguay.

The transfer involved Lorik Cana moving in the opposite direction to Lazio, while Galatasaray also paid €6.75 million to Muslera's former club, Montevideo Wanderers, (However, Lazio valued the sale of Muslera for free (as termination of contract) as well as signing Cana for a peppercorn of €1 as a special accounting arrangement ) Muslera's contract saw him earn €2 million per year.

On 5 November 2011, Muslera was selected the man of the match after saving his first penalty for Galatasaray in the match against Mersin İdmanyurdu, a 0–0 draw.

On 8 April 2012, the last day of the 2011–12 Süper Lig season, Muslera scored his first career goal, a penalty against Manisaspor.

Muslera continued to become Galatasaray's first choice goalkeeper in 2012–13, playing in the first match of the season in a 2–1 league victory over Kasımpaşa.

On 19 September 2012, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a match against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Though Galatasaray lost the match 1–0, he saved a penalty from Nani.

He kept his first clean sheet in the competition in a 1–0 victory against Manchester United at the Türk Telekom Arena.

He played 33 league matches out of 34 with Galatasaray, who retained their league title.

On 3 November 2013, Muslera suffered a fractured toe and therefore missed three Süper Lig and two Champions League matches.

However, he played 29 league matches out of 34.

At the end of the 2013–14 season, it was announced Muslera extended his contract until 2018, and would earn €2.75 million per season.

Muslera played 31 matches as Galatasaray regained their league title, but was absent in their cup final victory over Bursaspor due to his commitments for the 2015 Copa América.

The same match also resulted in Muslera keeping his 19th clean sheet of the season, an all-time league record.

In a league match against Çaykur Rizespor on 14 June 2020, Muslera suffered a double leg fracture as he collided with a Rizespor player in his box.

On 13 December 2021, in an away league match against Sivasspor, Muslera collided with his teammate Christian Luyindama in his box and was left writhing in pain.

Galatasaray stated that the collision had torn the medial collateral ligament on Muslera’s left knee and also hurt the anterior cruciate ligament.

Muslera became the champion in the Süper Lig in the 2022–23 season with the Galatasaray team.

Defeating Ankaragücü 4–1 away in the match played in the 36th week on 30 May 2023, Galatasaray secured the lead with 2 weeks before the end and won the 23rd championship in its history.