Iker Casillas, coming back home!
2 min read
The history of Iker Casillas with Real Madrid did not end in a way worthy of his legend and his achievements with the club for many different reasons. A legendary captain of the club and possibly the best goalkeeper in their entire history, Casillas had a silent exit without much fanfare. Logically, the story could not end like this.
Casillas arrived at Real Madrid in the 1990-91 season, at just 9 years old, and was climbing all the categories of the institution until his debut in 1999 with just 18 years, which was a record at the time.
One of the nights that have been remembered the most and the one that enshrined him as Real Madrid’s goalkeeper was in the 2002 UEFA Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen. A still very young Casillas would enter the pitch in the 68th minute due to Cesar Sánchez’s injury and he would have very important saves that would allow Los Blancos to keep their lead and lift the cup.
From that day on, Iker Casillas would remain as the starting goalkeeper of the institution where he would be part of Los Galacticos, along with some of the greatest stars of world football at the time such as Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Raúl, Ronaldo or David Beckham. Iker Casillas would win 5 LaLiga titles, 2 Copa del Rey, 4 Spanish Super Cup, 2 UEFA Super Cups, 1 FIFA Club World Cup, 2 Intercontinental Cups and 3 UEFA Champions League, the last being, in 2014, possibly the most special, for which meant the 10th European Cup for Real Madrid.
Despite this, some problems with the Portuguese manager, José Mourinho, during his time at the club, caused first his replacement and then his departure from Real Madrid in 2015. That year Casillas would sign with FC Porto with whom he would retire of professional football in 2020.
Today, Iker Casillas was announced as the new deputy general director of the Real Madrid Foundation, basically exercising the role of ambassador of the institution around the world. This announcement marks the return of a football legend to the club of his life, turning that 2015 goodbye into a mere “See you later”.
