Iker the ice man

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Two years ago Iker Casillas proved himself to be the best goalkeeper in Europe. Now he intends to demonstrate that he is the best keeper in the world. The Real Madrid keeper was outstanding at Euro 2008, conceding just one goal in five matches and captaining Spain to triumph.

In particular, he was brilliant in the tense quarterfinal against Italy. Casillas made a vital late save to foil Mauro Camoranesi — then saved two Italian penalties in the shootout, in which La Roja finally came of age and showed that it could scrap with the big boys for the major prizes.
Casillas also won his personal duel with Gianluigi Buffon, until then considered the best goalkeeper in Europe. “2008 was a wonderful experience,” said Casillas.
“To captain your country to victory at a major tournament is something very important, something that very few players manage to achieve. The best moment for me was when we arrived back in Madrid, and there were thousands of people waiting for us at the airport. That had never happened before for the national team,” he said.
Now his aim is to prove himself the best number one on Planet Football — at the same time as helping Spain to live up their billing as one of the favourites in South Africa.
“Something always goes wrong for us at the World Cup,” Casillas said. “In 2002 (in Korea and Japan) we were very badly treated by the referee (in a controversial quarterfinal against South Korea). In 2006 we came across a French side (in the round of 16) that was getting better with every match and growing stronger. We took the lead against them (through David Villa), but we lacked the experience to build on that.”
However, he really believes that things can be different in South Africa. “Two years ago we showed that we can compete against the strongest side. That has really improved our self-confidence.”
Casillas will go to South Africa in excellent form, He is one of the principal reasons why Real have challenged Barcelona for the Spanish title this season. For example, last Wednesday he pulled off several astonishing saves early on away to Mallorca — a match which the whites ended up winning 4-1.
He hails from the working-class suburb of Mostoles, and made his Real debut at the tender age of 17, in an eventful 3-3 draw away to Athletic Bilbao in 1999. By the age of 21 he had already helped the whites to win two Champions Leagues, in 2000 and 2002.
In the 2002 final Casillas came off the bench late on for the injured Cesar, and kept Bayer Leverkusen at bay with several astonishing saves. Since then, he has never returned to the subs’ bench.
He has played 102 times for La Roja, since 2000, and is well on course to beat the Spanish record of 126 caps established by 1990s goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta.
Casillas did well at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, but promises to do even better in South Africa.
Full-backs Sergio Ramos and Joan Capdevila leave a lot of space behind them down the flanks, Carles Puyol and Carlos Marchena are looking old and slow nowadays (though Gerard Pique is looking sharp).
This means that Casillas will have his work cut out in South Africa, giving him every chance to prove himself the best in the world. — DPA