Iker Casillas and wife Sara on 'World Cup live TV kiss': “It makes us cringe now”

PROBABLY Spain's biggest figure in recent footballing history, ex-Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas and his TV reporter wife Sara Carbonero are starring in a documentary series on the former's professional highlights on Movístar+ - and revealing intriguing back-stories about some of their most memorable moments.

Iker, 39, whose career came to an abrupt halt four years into his spell with FC Oporto in May 2019, described in last week's episode what it felt like when he collapsed during training with a heart attack.

It was caused by a narrowing of the arteries and led to his being fitted with three stents, and the sensation, he said, was 'like being at the bottom of a swimming pool, wanting to get out and not being able to'.

Sara, 36, who runs the fashion house SlowLove with two other reporter friends, told viewers about her mad rush to the Portuguese city from Cádiz, where she was working, via Madrid.

Also a model and influencer, Sara was diagnosed with early-stage ovarian cancer within days of her husband's heart attack, and underwent surgery and chemotherapy, finishing the gruelling treatment a year ago.

Her widely-publicised ordeal has made her almost as famous in Spain now as Iker, and her sustainable fashion brand has raised her media profile even further, particularly with the launch of the SlowLove for Cortefiel range and her jewellery collection via Ágatha París.

But their joint fame really took off a decade ago, when Iker was national team captain during the World Cup in South Africa and Sara was reporting on it live – and rumours were starting to spread about their possible burgeoning romance.

The speculation was confirmed as reality in a split second in front of, potentially, up to 47 million television viewers within minutes of Andrés Iniesta's goal that sealed Spain's first-ever World Cup win in a nail-biting final against The Netherlands.

During the post-match interview the Telecinco reporter – who had painted the Spanish flag on her cheeks – held with the team captain, and in the midst of the euphoria, Iker grabbed Sara, microphone still in hand, and kissed her passionately live on screen.

Now known nationwide as 'the World Cup kiss', it proved they were, indeed, an item, and the next decade would see them marry and have two sons, Martín and Lucas, who are now four and six.

Naturally, they were asked about it on the Movístar+ documentary, Colgar las Alas ('Hanging up your Wings').

“It was very romantic and all that, but it's really embarrassing to watch,” the celebrity couple admitted.

Separately and in almost identical words, they said: “It makes me cringe.”

“When we were already on the plane home and we saw the photo, the repercussion, the messages...we realised it'd gone just a tiny bit madder than we'd expected,” Sara added.

The couple moved back to their villa on the outskirts of Madrid in summer 2020, after five years in Portugal, for Iker to take over as advisor to Real chairman Florentino Pérez.