THE GOALKEEPER who helped Spain to win two UEFA Euro titles consecutively and its first-ever World Cup in the middle has officially announced his retirement from play, 15 months after collapsing during training with a heart attack.
Iker Casillas, 39, has been on the front line of football for 21 years and was team captain when Spain won the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa – a national team he first joined 20 years ago.
Until his heart attack and stent operation in May 2019, Iker was playing for FC Oporto, where he transferred to in 2015 after a major dispute with Real Madrid chairman Florentino Pérez.
He retired from the international team in 2016, but having gone from a legend with Real Madrid to a much-loved and hugely-acclaimed player in Oporto, he is still considered one of the world's best goalkeepers in history.
After Portuguese doctors signed him off and strongly advised him not to go back on the pitch for the foreseeable future, Iker did not entirely lose hope of being able to play at top level again one day, but in the meantime, worked for Oporto on the technical side and then decided to stand for elections for the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
He was up against existing chairman Luis Rubiales – whose decisions during the last World Cup have been heavily criticised – but in the end, Iker withdrew his candidacy as he felt time was against him and he would not be able to prepare for the elections so soon.
Meanwhile, he is said to be returning to his beloved Real Madrid in the autumn to work as advisor to Florentino Pérez, in a rôle similar to that carried out by current coach Zinedine 'Zizou' Zidane until 2013 – a probable appointment which seems to show he has patched things up with the chairman who was behind his leaving Spain five years ago.
Iker started out with Real Madrid when he was just 18 and still in the upper sixth form, and went on to become its captain between 2010 and 2015, and by the time he left, had notched up three Champions' League titles, five Spanish premier league – La Liga – titles, two Intercontinentals and two Copas del Rey, and holds the records for the second-most appearances with Real Madrid, at 725, only beaten by the iconic Raúl González Blanco.
Even though he has been a contemporary of some of the hottest goalies on the circuit, including Italian ace Gianluigi Buffon, Iker is still hailed as probably the best in footballing history.
His top moments include the so-called 'magic moment' in Glasgow, 2002, when Real Madrid won its ninth European title against Bayern Leverkusen; what has been dubbed 'the best stop in history' when he blocked a Diego Perotti goal against Sevilla FC in 2009; three penalties he blocked in the 2010 Beckenbauer Cup against Bayern Munich; and, probably most famous of all, the Robben penalty at the World Cup a decade ago in the final, nail-biting match against The Netherlands.
Last year was a turbulent one for Iker and his family, and one which would change their lives forever: Living the dream in a seafront villa in Oporto with his reporter, model and fashion designer wife Sara Carbonero and their two sons, Martín and Lucas, Iker's collapse during training and his brush with death just before his 38th birthday was swiftly followed up by the news that Sara was facing a battle against cancer.
During a routine gynaecology appointment, an early-stage ovarian tumour was found – early enough that doctors were able to talk about a complete cure, but which still involved another six months of gruelling chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy.
And Sara, now 36, has to deal with the knowledge that, had she not been due for the routine appointment, she may not be here now: Ovarian cancer is normally asymptomatic until it is Stage VI, meaning the vast majority of cases are discovered too late, the cancer comes back in 80% of cases after chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy, and it has one of the highest mortality rates of all cancers affecting females.
Now having finished treatment, Sara has not yet resumed her career as a TV sports reporter, but is still working on the fashion label she co-founded, S by Slowlove, and is said to be joining L'Oréal shortly – a brand she used to be the face of – for new project which may be linked to publicity and modelling.
The above photograph shows Iker holding the cup after Real Madrid's Champions' League win against Atlético de Madrid, a derby played in Lisbon.
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