39-year-old Iker Casillas Retires from Professional Football
Former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas have retired from professional football, the 39-year-old former Real Madrid goalkeeper made a total of 725 appearances for Real Madrid before leaving the club. Iker Casillas started his career at Bernabeu as a teenager, he was just 16-years-old when he joined the Spanish giants.
During his stay at Real Madrid, he won three Champions League titles and five La Liga trophies with the club, he also won the Fifa 2010 World Cup with Span before winning two successive European Championships in 2008 and 2012.
Iker Casillas left Real Madrid in 2015 and joined Portuguese side FC Porto but he has not been active with the club due to a Heart issue he had during training in April 2019. During his recovery he was given a role on the club’s coaching staff in July 2019.
He made 156 appearances for the Portuguese side, winning two Primeira Liga titles and one Portuguese Cup. Iker Casillas made 167 international caps for Spain between 2000 and 2016. Only Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has made more appearances for the national side than him.
Countrymen and club teammate have been celebrating the goalkeeper on his retirement as Sergio Ramos posted a photo of himself with Casillas on Twitter as a tribute to his former team-mate. Iker Casillas Announced his retirement on Twitter, he said: “The important thing is the path you travel and the people who accompany you, not the destination to which it takes you. “I think I can say, without hesitation, that it has been the path and the dream destination.”
Real Madrid said Casillas, who joined the Spanish giants at the age of nine, was the best goalkeeper in the 118-year history of the club. “Real Madrid wants to show its appreciation, admiration and love for one of the greatest legends of our club and world football,” read a statement on the club’s website. “Iker Casillas belongs to the heart of Real Madrid and will be so forever.”