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.
He was a product of Real Madrid's youth system, and
started in the junior squad during the 1990-91
season, but it wasn't until 1998-99 that he debuted
in the senior side, replacing Bodo Illgner, and he
was in Real's starting lineup the next season. In
2000, he became the youngest-ever goalkeeper to ever
play in a Champions League final when Real Madrid
defeated Valencia C.F. 3-0 four days after his
nineteenth birthday. He is also one of the vice
captains in the team and has grown to be a club
icon. He has been constantly nicknamed 'Saint Iker'
for his seemingly miraculous saves.
Casillas lost his spot to backup Cesar Sanchez after
a patch of bad form during the 2001-02 campaign, but
Sanchez suffered an injury in the last minutes of
Madrid's 2-1 2002 Champions League final victory
over Bayer Leverkusen and was replaced by Casillas,
who earned back the starting shirt the next season
and has maintained it since. In February 2008, he
signed a contract extension that will keep him at
the club until 2017, with an automatic extension if
he plays 30 competitive matches during the final
season of the contract.
