Iker Casillas, born May 20, 1981, retires from football. The former Porto keeper has decided to hang up his gloves, but in the memory of football fans he will be remembered as “El Santo”.
Why is Casillas known as “El Santo”?
The stops that Iker Casillas has made throughout his long and successful career have shown their virtues repeatedly: He had feline reflexes under the sticks, an intuition reserved only for the best goalkeepers and a gift of the opportunity to leave his best interventions in the most important and important games. Undoubtedly, Casillas' most miraculous intervention was that of the heads up, in the final of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, in which he brought out Robben a ball with the body that could change the seal of that match.
When did you start using the nickname “El Santo”?
At the end of the 2001/2002 season, in which Real Madrid beat Bayer de Leverkusen (2-1) in the Glasgow final, César Sánchez began the game as the starting goalkeeper. However, an injury caused him to leave the field of play and Iker Casillas came into his place. In that final he made several miraculous interventions; especially remembered the one he did before Berbatov in the discount with a minimum income favorable to Real Madrid. Practically beaten, on the goal line, Casillas pulled out his right leg to save the shot that seemed to mean a draw for Bayer Leverkusen.
This nickname was established along with a brilliant performance in the World Cup in Korea and Japan 2002. Casillas was going to be the substitute goalkeeper, but the untimely injury of Santiago Cañizares allowed him to occupy the goal and with great performances he settled as the starting goalkeeper of the Selection; a position that he would not leave until the end of his career. Likewise, Casillas settled as the Real Madrid starting goalkeeper, in a brilliant season finale for him in every way.
A nickname with continuity
The term “El Santo” would not have been coined if Casillas had not made miraculous stops an everyday occurrence. Iker was always a key player in one of the best times in the history of Real Madrid and the best generation in the history of Spanish football.. His performance in the quarterfinal penalty shoot-out against Italy at Euro 2008 and that stop for Robben in the 2010 World Cup final against the Netherlands were other milestones that contributed to the rise of the 'El Santo' legend.