venus williams blog: Iker Casillas Spanish Goalkeeper

Iker Casillas Fernández (Spanish pronunciation: born 20 May 1981) is a World Cup-winning Spanish goalkeeper who plays for the Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and serves as captain for both the Spanish national team and Real Madrid. As captain of the national side, he led a young Spanish team to their first European Championship in 44 years, his first senior international honour. In 2010, he led Spain to their first ever FIFA World Cup and won the Golden Glove for the tournament's best goalkeeper.

Since bursting onto the scene as a teenager, Casillas has been recognised as one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, illustrated by the many awards he has received. He was nominated for the European Footballer of the Year award twice, ranking fourth overall in 2008 and continuing to be the highest-ranked goalkeeper again in 2009. At the end of 2009 he was voted into the UEFA Team of the Year for the third consecutive time. As of July 2010 Casillas is one of a very select group of players who have won all major club and national championship titles. In 2010, he was awarded with the Sports Prince of Asturias Award. On 19 October 2010, Casillas became the most capped goalkeeper of all time in the UEFA Champions League.

Iker Casillas