Iker Casillas: All the glory has gone

Chile deprived Iker Casillas of the last glory of a goalkeeper once called "Saint Iker" by eliminating Spain from the 2014 World Cup.

Casillas had a disappointing World Cup

Casillas is nicknamed “San Iker” (Saint Iker) in Spain, but this World Cup has been a disaster for him. Four years ago, Casillas captained Spain to the World Cup. And two years ago he became the first goalkeeper in history to captain a team that has won two European Championships and one World Cup. But that was a long time ago. Already deeply wounded even before arriving in Brazil, Casillas faced a tragic end after a crushing 5-1 defeat by the Netherlands in the opening match. But after the defeat to Chile, the tragic end became a reality.

Vicente del Bosque was right to continue to trust and be loyal to the player who had helped him achieve great success as coach of Real Madrid and Spain. But in football terms, it was a self-destructive disaster. David De Gea was injured against Australia, but Pepe Reina is also a very reliable goalkeeper. Nevertheless, Del Bosque was determined to leave Reina on the bench.

So Casillas, still captain, burdened with all the glory of the past and the expectation of the present, collapsed once again against a fast, fearless and ruthlessly efficient Chile. Two, perhaps three, goals in the 5-1 defeat by the Netherlands were Casillas’ fault. It was no surprise that in the 25 minutes of “lightning war” in the first half, in which Chile scored both of their goals, the Spanish saint was martyred.

Casillas was only partly at fault for the first goal. Renowned for his quick reflexes, he failed to get out of the box in time and Eduardo Vargas was a step ahead before slotting the ball into the empty net. Casillas was the real culprit for the second goal. Alexis Sanchez's free kick was powerful, but it went straight to the goalkeeper. Casillas could have saved it or pushed it away. He chose to push it away, but with that clumsy clearance, it went right to the feet of the player who would score, Charles Aranguiz, which could be called a beautiful assist.

Reina, full of team spirit, waited on the sidelines and offered Casillas plenty of encouragement at half-time. But many neutrals would have thought Jose Mourinho was right: he had left Casillas out of the Real Madrid starting line-up purely for sporting reasons. Casillas never really recovered from Mourinho’s abandonment at Real Madrid in late 2012. The Portuguese’s decision also poisoned the atmosphere in the dressing room at the Santiago Bernabeu and while many would have said it was just football politics, the reality was that even Mourinho’s replacement, Carlo Ancelotti, had decided that Diego Lopez was his number one goalkeeper.

Casillas has become Real's Anders Lindegaard or Costel Pantilimon, playing only in the Copa del Rey and Champions League. When Real won the Champions League final in May, they did so, but with Casillas in the team: he played a nervous game. At just 33, a healthy age for a goalkeeper, Casillas seems to be on the cusp of his prime. It's not hard to understand that he made his 834th appearance for club and country, with the Chile game his 156th for La Roja.

At the end of the match, when Spain were all out in search of even a consolation goal, to no avail, Casillas must have had plenty of time to reflect. He stood there, hands on hips, shirt untucked, occasionally scratching his head and staring blankly into the stands. “It’s hard to explain what happened. Today is not a day for blame,” he said after the match. But the defeat to Chile will likely be Casillas’s last game as a Spain starter.

Source: FOOTBALL +