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Iker Casillas
Personal information
Full name	Iker Casillas Fernández
Date of birth	May 20, 1981 (1981-05-20) (age 26)
Place of birth	Madrid, Spain
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Real Madrid
Number	1
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998-1999 1999 1999-	Real Madrid C Real Madrid B Real Madrid	026 (0) 004 (0) 265 (0)
National team2
2000-	Spain	073 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:58, 18 November 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of November 18, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Iker Casillas Fernández (born May 20, 1981 in Móstoles, Madrid) is a Spanish football goalkeeper. He is currently the first choice goalkeeper for Real Madrid and the Spanish national team. He is the captain of the Spanish national team, as well as one of the vice-captains of Real Madrid.

Contents 1 Real Madrid 2 National team 2.1 2002 World Cup 2.2 Euro 2004 2.3 2006 World Cup 3 Honors and awards 4 Trivia 5 Statistics 6 References 7 External links

Casillas was a product of Real's youth system and his reflexes and agility have made him into one of the most important players at the club. Iker started in the junior team in Madrid during the 1990/91 season. His impressive performances were rewarded when he received a call up to the main team in the 98/99 season. From the 1999/2000 season onwards he formed part of the Real first team, in which he took his place like a veteran. Iker has consistently performed to incredibly high standards, which has led to his becoming one of the most important members of the team. Although at times, Real Madrid have struggled to find form and consistency during past seasons, Iker has become one of the top goalkeepers in the football market due to his strong leadership skills and vast amounts of natural ability that he regularly displays at the Bernabeu stadium.

After being a regular part of the starting eleven for a long time after his debut with the first team, Casillas lost his spot after a drop in his form in favour of his then teammate Cesar Sanchez until an injury in the last minutes of the 2002 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen forced Sanchez to leave the pitch and be replaced by a young Casillas who managed to win back his spot with a series of great saves that ensured his team the Champions League title.

He is the team's third captain and a favorite with the fans. Nicknamed "the Bernabeu's spoiled child", his love and dedication to the team are one of his his greatest assets. One of the best examples of his affection toward the club was in the 2006-2007 season. Iker literally broke into tears when Real Madrid secured the Primera División title, after 3 years without any type of silverware, the club's longest drought in over 50 years.

Casillas was a member of the Spanish teams which won the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup and FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999. Following his full international debut against Sweden, Casillas was an unused substitute at Euro 2000.

He was selected to the Spanish National Team and ended up being the first choice goalkeeper at the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan later that year. Because of his performance, Casillas enjoyed hero status after Spain knocked out the Republic of Ireland in a penalty shoot-out to advance to the quarter-finals. After the FIFA World Cup and his performances against the Republic of Ireland and South Korea, he emerged as the first choice keeper for the national team.

Casillas played in all eight Group 6 fixtures during Euro 2004 qualifying, conceding just four goals. He then kept goal in both legs of the play-off victory against Norway, keeping a clean sheet in Oslo. He then played as his country's goalkeeper at the Euro 2004 finals.

Casillas was his country's first-choice goalkeeper during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Spain was beaten by France 3-1 which marked the end of the 2006 campaign. During the tournament, he captained Spain twice.

Domestic

• Spanish League : 2001, 2003 and 2007
• Spanish Super Cup : 2003

Continental

• UEFA Champions League : 2000 and 2002
• European Supercup : 2002
• Intercontinental Cup : 2002

International

• FIFA World Youth Championship : 1999

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Due to Spanish language grammar rules his forename is often spelled as Íker. The name Iker (English: visitation) however is of Basque origin and in Basque language accent marks are not used.^[1] His parents worked in Bilbao, Basque Country for some time before he was born and simply liked the name Iker so much that they decided to give it to him when he was baptized. His younger brother also has a Basque name, Unai (English: shepherd).^[2]
• Casillas was the only Madrid player to use public transport to get to training sessions in the 1999/00 season, because he was too young at the time to have a driver's license.
• He became the youngest-ever goalkeeper to ever play in the European Cup final, when Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 four days after his 19th birthday.
• He is dating Spanish Miss Spain 2003 and model Eva González. They split in November 2006, but reunited a few weeks later. She was once voted the prettiest footballers' partner in Spain.
• He was born on the same day as Chelsea keeper Petr Cech, but is a year older.

correct as of November 18, 2007.

Club Performance

Club	Season	La Liga		Spanish Cup		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Real Madrid	2007/08	13	0	0	0	4	0	2	0	18	0
Real Madrid	2006/07	38	0	1	0	7	0	0	0	45	0
Real Madrid	2005/06	37	0	4	0	7	0	0	0	48	0
Real Madrid	2004/05	37	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	47	0
Real Madrid	2003/04	37	0	1	0	9	0	2	0	49	0
Real Madrid	2002/03	38	0	0	0	15	0	2	0	55	0
Real Madrid	2001/02	25	0	5	0	9	0	1	0	39	0
Real Madrid	2000/01	34	0	0	0	11	0	0	0	45	0
Real Madrid	1999/00	27	0	5	0	12	0	0	0	24	0
Total		286	0	16	0	84	0	7	0	393	0

• Iker Casillas Website
• Iker Casillas Compilation
• Profile at GFDb.com
• FootballDatabase career profile and statistics
• On top of the stops

v • d • e Spain squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Casillas • 2 Torres • 3 Juanfran • 4 Helguera • 5 Puyol • 6 Hierro • 7 Raúl • 8 Baraja • 9 Morientes • 10 Tristán • 11 de Pedro • 12 Luque • 13 Ricardo • 14 Albelda • 15 Romero • 16 Mendieta • 17 Valerón • 18 Sergio • 19 Xavi • 20 Nadal • 21 Luis Enrique • 22 Joaquín • 23 Contreras • Coach: Camacho

v • d • e Spain squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Casillas • 2 M. Salgado • 3 M. Pernía • 4 Marchena • 5 Puyol • 6 Albelda • 7 Raúl • 8 Xavi • 9 Torres • 10 Reyes • 11 L. García • 12 A. López • 13 Iniesta • 14 X. Alonso • 15 S. Ramos • 16 M. Senna • 17 Joaquín • 18 Cesc • 19 Cañizares • 20 Juanito • 21 D. Villa • 22 P. Ibáñez • 23 Reina • Coach: Aragonés

v • d • e Real Madrid C.F. – current squad
1 Casillas • 2 Salgado • 3 Pepe • 4 Ramos • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Diarra • 7 Raúl • 8 Gago • 9 Soldado • 10 Robinho • 11 Robben • 12 Marcelo • 13 Codina • 14 Guti • 15 Drenthe • 16 Heinze • 17 van Nistelrooy • 18 Saviola • 19 Baptista • 20 Higuaín • 21 Metzelder • 22 Torres • 23 Sneijder • 24 Balboa • 25 Dudek • Coach: Schuster