Iker Casillas announces his retirement from play
Wednesday, August 5, 2020 @ 10:23 PM
THE GOALKEEPER who helped Spain to win two UEFA Euro titles consecutively and its first-ever World Cup in the middle has officially announced his retirement from play, 15 months after collapsing during training with a heart attack.
Iker Casillas, 39, has been on the front line of football for 21 years and was team captain when Spain won the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa – a national team he first joined 20 years ago.
Until his heart attack and stent operation in May 2019, Iker was playing for FC Oporto, where he transferred to in 2015 after a major dispute with Real Madrid chairman Florentino Pérez.
He retired from the international team in 2016, but having gone from a legend with Real Madrid to a much-loved and hugely-acclaimed player in Oporto, he is still considered one of the world's best goalkeepers in history.
After Portuguese doctors signed him off and strongly advised him not to go back on the pitch for the foreseeable future, Iker did not entirely lose hope of being able to play at top level again one day, but in the meantime, worked for Oporto on the technical side and then decided to stand for elections for the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
He was up against existing chairman Luis Rubiales – whose decisions during the last World Cup have been heavily criticised – but in the end, Iker withdrew his candidacy as he felt time was against him and he would not be able to prepare for the elections so soon.
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