Iker Casillas

He was named as the second-best goalkeeper of the 21st century, behind Gigi Buffon, and the second-best goalkeeper of the past 25 years by the same organisation.

Iker Casillas Fernández (born 20 May 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and currently works as a football commentator.

Popularly dubbed "San Iker" ("Saint Iker") for his ability to produce spectacular saves, Casillas is widely considered to be one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.

He is known for his athleticism, quick reactions and outstanding shot-stopping ability.

Having spent the majority of his career at Real Madrid, Casillas is one of the few players to achieve over 1000 professional career matches, and holds the record for the most clean sheets in the UEFA Champions League, as well as for the Spain national team.

Currently, he works for RTVE, Movistar Plus+ and Azteca Deportes.

Casillas was born on 20 May 1981 in Móstoles, province of Madrid, to José Luis Casillas, a civil servant in the Ministry of Education, and María del Carmen Fernández González, a hairdresser.

Both his parents had moved from their home of Navalacruz, Ávila.

Casillas has a brother, seven years younger, named Unai, who used to play as a central midfielder for CD Móstoles.

The brothers' forenames are of Basque origin due to a family connection to the region: their paternal grandfather – an officer in the Civil Guard – was posted to Bilbao and settled in the city, their father grew up there as a result and Iker also lived in the area as a small child before the family relocated to Madrid.

On one occasion as a young child, when he was seven or eight, Casillas forgot to post his father's football predictions for the weekend; his father had correctly predicted all 15 results, and the family lost out on an estimated €1.2 million (£1 million).

Casillas began his career in Real Madrid's youth system, known as La Fábrica, during the 1990–91 season.

On 27 November 1997, at age 16 and still a junior, he was first called up to the senior team squad to face Rosenborg in the UEFA Champions League, although he remained on the bench throughout.

After spending a season with the C-team in the fourth tier, during which they won their regional group, he came into contention as the club's first-choice between the posts.

At club level, Casillas started his career with the Real Madrid youth team, eventually gaining promotion to the main team in 1999, where he became the youngest goalkeeper to play in the final of the Champions League, and to win the title, at 19 years and four days.

Casillas became the first choice goalkeeper at Real Madrid, winning two Champions Leagues and La Liga titles in his first three seasons, establishing himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

During his highly successful career in Madrid, Casillas won all major club titles, including five La Liga titles, four Supercopa de España titles, two Copa del Rey titles, three UEFA Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and the FIFA Club World Cup.

In starting the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League group stage fixture against Olympiakos on 15 September 1999, he became the youngest goalkeeper ever to feature in the competition at the time, aged 18 years and 177 days; a record which was only broken in October 2017 by Mile Svilar.

Three days earlier, Casillas had made his La Liga debut in a 2–2 draw against Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés Stadium.

An unused substitute at UEFA Euro 2000, Casillas became the nation's first choice goalkeeper at the 2002 World Cup, and went on to play at UEFA Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.

In May 2000, he became the youngest ever goalkeeper to play in and win a Champions League final when Real Madrid defeated Valencia 3–0, just four days after his 19th birthday.

Casillas lost his place in the side to backup César Sánchez after poor performances in the 2001–02 campaign, but redeemed himself when Sánchez suffered an injury in the final minutes of the 2002 Champions League Final.

Casillas came on and pulled off several key saves to deny a rampant Bayer Leverkusen the Champions League crown.

Real Madrid won 2–1.

The 2007–08 season was a fruitful season for Casillas, as he helped Real Madrid reclaim their 31st La Liga title and conceded only 32 goals in 36 matches to claim the Zamora Trophy.

In 2008, he was made captain, and went on to lead the team to the European Championship title that year.

In 2008, Casillas placed fourth overall in the Ballon d'Or, and has been selected for the UEFA Team of the Year six consecutive times from 2007 to 2012, a record for a goalkeeper.

Casillas was also selected in the FIFPro World XI a record five times for a goalkeeper, and was named as the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper a record five times, alongside Gianluigi Buffon and Manuel Neuer.

On 14 February 2008, he and club captain Raúl were awarded contracts for life; Casillas signed a contract extension that would keep him at the club until 2017, with an automatic extension if he played 30 competitive matches during the final season of the contract and a buy-out clause of £113 million.

His performances earned him a spot in the UEFA Team of the Year for the second time.

In February 2009, Casillas equalled Paco Buyo's record of 454 matches played for a goalkeeper and has since surpassed it to become Real Madrid's most-capped goalkeeper of all time at only 27 years old.

During the 2009 summer transfer window, some Spanish media reported that Manchester City had launched a record £129 million bid for the goalkeeper.

The club denied the rumours, however, saying that no such offer had been made.

Casillas also led Spain to their first World Cup win in 2010, where he kept a joint–record five clean sheets, winning the Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

Spain became the first nation to retain the European Championship, winning the title again in 2012, where he set the record for most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal in the competition (509).

In 2014, Casillas became one of four players to represent Spain at four World Cups.

After 25 years with Real Madrid, Casillas joined FC Porto in 2015 on a free transfer, where he won the Primeira Liga and a Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira title.

While at Porto, he broke the record for most consecutive seasons played in the UEFA Champions League (20) and amassed the most appearances in the competition (177).

He ended his playing career in February 2020, after almost a year on the sidelines following a heart attack he suffered during a training session with Porto in May 2019.

With 167 international caps, Casillas has the second most appearances for the Spain national team, making him the joint tenth-most capped footballer of all time.