Iker Casillas, captain of Real Madrid and the Spanish national team, said today that he was very "happy" to have been voted 'best goalie in the world' by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).  He added that "standards are improving all the time" making it "all the more difficult to stay at the top".

For the second year in a row, the 28-year-old Casillas was named world number one goalkeeper, ahead of Italy's Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Brazil's Julio César (Inter Milán), Holland's Edwin Van der Sar (Manchester Utd) and the Czech Republic's Petr Cech (Chelsea).

A smiling Casillas appeared at a press conference at Real Madrid's training ground promising to work extra hard to stay at the top.  "I'm really happy," he said, "although last season wasn't that great for the club as a whole, it was a good season for me personally."

"As I said in 2008," he continued, "I'll carry on working hard to stay up there next season.  It's not easy and staying at the top is the hardest thing of all.  The demands are greater, but I'm up for it".