- 10 great moments: from Trondheim to Johannesburg
- The days of shame: the savior of Spanish football
- Opinion: the fate of Iker Casillas
- Officer. "The time has come to say goodbye"
It has taken 15 months for Iker Casillas , one of the best goalkeepers in history, to confirm what everyone knew and only he had refused to admit. At 39, the great symbol of Spanish football hangs his gloves, a few weeks after his resignation from leading a candidacy to preside over the Federation and with the post of ambassador of Real Madrid as a next step. It is the farewell of a genius who perhaps extended his decadence, but did not erase a legend that began to write its end a little over a year ago.
On May 1, 2019, in a Porto hospital, Iker was as vulnerable as any mortal. That acute myocardial infarction, no matter how hard he tried, was the coup de grace to his career. Attempts to speed up, from the preseason, his last year of contract would be useless. Entrenched in his Twitter shelter, Iker was hanging out with the most stupid gossip. And opened fire at will. Any cretin could get a response from the goalkeeper who had conquered the world with the face of never having broken a plate.
There was a time when all teens wanted to be like Casillas. To be taken out of class in high school and urgently included in a Champions League squad against Rosenborg. Or so that bad luck fell on our enemies as injuries fell on Bodo Illgner or Albano Bizzarri . But only Iker was able to gather so much talent and so much fortune before coming of age. At the age of 21 he had already won two European Cups. In Paris he still did not dare to tutor Raúl or Fernando Redondo , but on the way to Glasgow he was able to challenge Del Bosque. His final minutes against Leverkusen symbolize the essence of his genius.
Lifetime contract
The Novena was only the prelude to a decade of great contrasts, as disastrous for Madrid as it was splendid for its goalkeeper. The highlight came on Valentine's Day 2008, with the lifetime contract extended by Ramón Calderón . I feel valued. Above all, I want to thank the fans, who have always supported me, ”proclaimed Casillas, who was already competing in the heart of Madrid with Raúl, who of course had also received another blank check.
It was the sign of those times. The boundless euphoria of a Spain not yet devastated by the crisis, where even Luis Aragonés dared to call it La Roja. In the Eurocup, the coach who had set aside the '7' fitted the bracelet on the scissors sleeves of his goalkeeper. After each harangue, Zapatones asked: "Anything to add, cap ?" And like any replica, a half smile appeared. Because Iker was not a leader in the locker room. It never was. He was content to be the best in the world at his post. This is how Gianluigi Buffon must have complied during the penalty shootout in Vienna that forever changed the team's course.
In his physical prime, at 26, Iker had a club and a country surrendered at his feet. No one, not even Alfredo di Stéfano , had been able to unite wills around these two concepts. Much less make them converge in a single image: that of the hero raising the World Cup in Johannesburg. Every mother, every grandmother, fantasized about such a son-in-law, as firm before Arjen Robben as gallant before Sara Carbonero .
That kiss live on Telecinco was to the popular culture of the 21st century what Santiago Carrillo's wig to the Transition. The infallible confirmation that everything would be fine. That the bank was going to continue financing us the mortgage of the little house on the beach and the tires of the 4x4. The pride of feeling Spanish did not understand at the time of flags, nor of ancestral hatreds. Del Bosque, the railwayman's son, was announced in the salons as a marquis. Pepe Reina's jokes made the two Spains laugh, marking a double step to the beat of Manolo Escobar .
Between two fires
Then, in the summer of 2010, José Mourinho arrived to blow up that whole world of cotton. The war without quarter against Barcelona, from the pitch to the press conferences, surprised Iker between two fires. On the one hand, calls for jihad from the new custodians of essences. On the other, the petulant civility of Xavi Hernández and Carles Puyol . On the pitch, as much as the critics were determined, he continued to perform at a high level during the first two seasons of the Portuguese.
His virtues were based on the power of his legs and on the supernatural reflexes. With his foot, however, he often pointed towards Cristiano's unmarking and the ball was lost along the Paseo de La Habana. He had never enjoyed training, but now, in addition, he had to listen to the meritocracy tune to keep the job. In a way it was understandable. Who among you would stay one August morning under Silvino Louro ? Euro 2012 was his swan song. The injury, after Álvaro Arbeloa's involuntary kick , the beginning of the end.
Everything was twisted without remedy for Casillas, who saw the prestige hoarded for years fade away in a few weeks. Adam was only a toast to Mou's sun , but Diego López confirmed himself as a rival of unquestionable category. You had to compete tomorrow and afternoon, Wednesday and Sunday ... Then, at the worst moment, Iker joined. The Bernabéu reminded him of the previous copies of Juanito or Santillana , although he never wanted to resign himself to the substitution. Even with Carlo Ancelotti , who gave him the Champions League candy, he never found his place under sticks again.
The Lisbon final against Atlético and the grief against the Netherlands in the World Cup were stark evidence that Madrid and Spain needed another goalkeeper. In the wake of Keylor Navas and David de Gea , he was still able to round off his statistics: an average of 1.04 goals against after 725 games with Madrid and only 0.55 in 167 with the national team. His transfer to Porto was not very interesting, as his farewell is now on tiptoe amid the heat, the flare-ups and the King Emeritus. Maybe he should have left much earlier, but History, as he always does with the greats, will absolve him.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more- Sara Carbonero
- Iker Casillas
- Jose Mourinho
- Keylor Navas
- David De Gea
- sports
- soccer
- Champions League
- Spain National Soccer Team
- Carlo Ancelotti
FútbolIker Casillas announces his retirement from soccer
SoccerThe 10 great moments for which we will remember Iker Casillas
Soccer Guardiola's challenge and Mourinho's reply: "Let the circus doors open"
See links of interest
- Last minute
- Spanish translator
- Programming
- 2020 calendar
- Horoscope today
- League classification
- Santander League Calendar
- Movies today
- Themes