Iker Casillas

Iker Casillas Personal information Full name Iker Casillas Fernández Date of birth May 20, 1981(1981-05-20) (age 27) Place of birth Madrid, SpainHeight 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Playing position GoalkeeperClub information Current club Real MadridNumber 1 Youth clubs 1990–1998
1998–1999
1999–2000 Real Madrid Youth
Real Madrid C
Real Madrid BSenior clubs1 Years Club App (Gls)* 1999– Real Madrid311 (0) National team2 2000– Spain077 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 27 March 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 16:18, 6 June 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Iker Casillas Fernández (born May 20, 1981 in Móstoles, Madrid) is a Spanish football goalkeeper. He is currently the first choice goalkeeper for Real Madrid and the Spanish national team. He is the captain of the Spanish national team, as well as one of the vice-captains of Real Madrid.

1 Real Madrid
2 National team
3 Honors and awards
4 Statistics
5 References
6 External links

Real Madrid

He was a product of Real Madrid's youth system, and started in the junior squad during the 1990-91 season, but it wasn't until 1998-99 that he debuted in the senior side, and he was in Real's starting lineup the next season. In 2000, he became the youngest-ever goalkeeper to ever play in a Champions League final when Real Madrid defeated Valencia C.F. 3-0 four days after his nineteenth birthday. He is also one of the vice captains in the team and has grown to be a club icon. He has been constantly nicknamed 'Saint Iker' for his seemingly miraculous saves.

Casillas lost his spot to backup Cesar Sanchez after a patch of bad form during the 2001-02 campaign, but Sanchez suffered an injury in the last minutes of Madrid's 2-1 2002 Champions League final victory over Bayer Leverkusen and was replaced by Casillas, who earned back the starting shirt the next season and has maintained it since. In February 2008, he signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2017, with an automatic extension if he plays 30 competitive matches during the final season of the contract.[1][2]

National team

Casillas was a member of the Spanish teams which won the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup and FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999. Following his full international debut against Sweden, Casillas was an unused substitute at Euro 2000.

Debut Spanish Selection: Sweden 1 - Spain 1 3 June 2000
Official debut Spanish Selection: Bosnia 1 - Spain 2 2 September 2000

Casillas is currently the second-most capped goalkeeper in the history of the Spanish national team, behind Andoni Zubizarreta, who appeared in 126 matches for Spain during his career.[3]

2002 World Cup

He was selected to the Spanish National Team and ended up being the first choice goalkeeper at the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan later that year. Because of his performance, Casillas enjoyed hero status after Spain knocked out the Republic of Ireland in a penalty shoot-out to advance to the quarter-finals. After the FIFA World Cup and his performances against the Republic of Ireland and South Korea, he emerged as the first choice keeper for the national team.

Euro 2004

Casillas played in all eight Group 6 fixtures during Euro 2004 qualifying, conceding just four goals. He then kept goal in both legs of the play-off victory against Norway, keeping a clean sheet in Oslo. He then played as his country's goalkeeper at the Euro 2004 finals.

2006 World Cup

Casillas was his country's first-choice goalkeeper during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Spain was beaten by France 3-1 which marked the end of the 2006 campaign. During the tournament, he captained Spain twice. He is the current captain of Spain.

Honors and awards

Domestic

Spanish League: 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2008
Spanish Super Cup: 2003
Zamora Trophy: 2008

Continental

UEFA Champions League: 2000 and 2002
European Supercup: 2002
Intercontinental Cup: 2002
European Championship : 1997

International

FIFA World Youth Championship: 1999

Statistics

as of May 27, 2008:

Club Performance League Cup Continental Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Spain League Copa del Rey EuropeTotal 1999-00 Real Madrid La Liga29 0 5 0 12 0 46 0 2000-0134 0 0 0 11 0 45 0 2001-0225 0 5 0 9 0 39 0 2002-0338 0 0 0 15 0 53 0 2003-0437 0 2 0 9 0 48 0 2004-0537 0 0 0 10 0 47 0 2005-0637 0 4 0 7 0 48 0 2006-0738 0 0 0 7 0 45 0 2007-0836 0 0 0 8 0 44 0 Total Spain 311 0 16 0 88 0 415 0 Career Total 311 0 16 0 88 0 415 0

National Team Performance Team Year Friendlies World Cup European CupTotal App Conceded App Conceded App Conceded App Conceded Spain2008 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Spain2007 1 0 0 0 7 3 8 3 Spain2006 4 3 3 4 3 5 10 12 Spain2005 1 0 9 4 0 0 10 4 Spain2004 6 3 3 1 3 2 12 6 Spain2003 3 1 0 0 8 5 11 6 Spain2002 4 1 5 5 2 0 11 6 Spain2001 3 2 2 0 0 0 5 2 Spain2000 3 3 3 2 0 0 6 5 Total 27 13 25 16 23 15 75 44