Euro 2008 Player Profile: Iker Casillas

Name: Iker Casillas Fernández
Team: Spain
Group: D; Russia, Sweden, Greece.
Caps: 75 – as of May 28, 2008
DOB: May 20, 1981 (27 years old)
Position: Goalkeeper
Club Team: Real Madrid

A happy belated birthday to Iker Casillas, who turned 27 last week. It’s hard to believe that such an accomplished player, in the one position that most favors experience over youth, is still so young. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the best keeper in Spain, and perhaps the best in the world.

There are almost always arguments when the word “best” comes into a football conversation, so here are some stats to back him up. This year in La Liga, Casillas won the Trofeo Zamora for top keeper in the league, allowing just 32 goals 36 matches, for a ridiculous average of 0.89 per game. No one else was under 1. Without that kind of stability at the back, Real Madrid never would have taken this season’s La Liga title, the team’s 31st and Casillas’ fourth. To go with his Zamora trophy and four league medals, Iker has won two Champions Leagues, a UEFA SuperCup, and an Intercontinental Cup. He is one of the most loyal club men in Europe as well, never having played for a side other than Real Madrid.

For all his club honors, Casillas, like many in Spain, has a shockingly small international collection in his trophy case. “Underperforming” has always been a word tightly associated with the Spanish team, and one they are desperate to throw aside. Since winning the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999, Casillas has added no other international trophies to his bounty.

Iker is the second most-capped keeper in Spanish history, below Andoni Zubizarreta, and is on form to add many more appearances for his country. He first appeared in 2000, and his first major tournament was that year’s European Championships, but he never left the bench and watched as France eliminated Spain 2-1 in the quarters. He would get his chance to contribute next time around, though, taking over the #1 jersey for the 2002 World Cup, where his poise in the penalty shootout with Ireland was key in Spain’s quarterfinal appearance. But when you live by the shootout, you often die by it, and South Korea dispatched Casillas and Spain in the very next round, on the way to their miracle semifinal run. He led Spain through the bad times as well, including Euro 2004, when they were eliminated on goal difference from the group stage, and World Cup 2006, where it was once again France that took Spain out of the tournament.

Casillas, and indeed all of Spain, are hungry for European hardware. The quality of their players, starting with their captain and star keeper, cannot be denied, but it still remains to be seen whether the Europe’s greatest underachievers can step up in the big show. Here’s a look at what every striker hates to see: Iker at his best.

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