Out of FIFA magazine March 2005: By Sergio Levinsky

Iker Casillas has been playing for Real Madrid since 1990. Now almost 23 years old, he is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.Casillas talks about football and other passions.

FIFA magazine: Despite your youthful age, you are already regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.What do you think of your career so far?

Casillas: I can’t complain.I think if I had to start all over again and had the same choices, I would take the same route.I was very lucky to be able to start at a very young age and things have turned out well.I hope I can carry on this way.I am eternally grateful to Vicente Del Bosque [his former coach at Real Madrid – ed.] who believed in my ability to play for a team like Real Madrid in the first division and thanks to whom I have gained so much experience, despite my youth.

FIFA magazine: What does it mean to be the regular no. 1 for Real Madrid?

Casillas: It means occupying a position of huge responsibility and being aware of what you represent for so many onlookers and also the need to keep an even keel, knowing that you can never accept a draw but that you must always win and be on top because history simply demands it.

FIFA magazine: What is life like for a young man from humble beginnings and already knowing that his children and grandchildren will have a financially secure future?

Casillas: Just like anyone else’s and simpler than you can imagine.  I don’t do much more than any other young men of my age, apart from the fact that I don’t have to think too much about spending money, but otherwise I live like any other person.I go out to eat, watch a show with friends, go for a walk, try to live well but I don’t do anything very different.

FIFA magazine: You have now got used to keeping company with superstars...

Casillas: Yes, after a while you get used to it because you know that only the best go to Real Madrid – a trend that has intensified in recent years and which you just accept.

FIFA magazine: You yourself are now a superstar...

Casillas: Thank you, but if that’s true, I had to bend over backwards to get this far, slaving away at stopping the ball and so I think it’s only fair that I’ve got to where I am now.I have also acquired so much experience and am familiar with the club’s ins and outs, and that’s very important.

FIFA magazine: Does that mean it is better to rely on young talent rather than sign other players?

Casillas: Not necessarily. It’s a good idea to do both because a club like Real Madrid always attracts top players. But it’s just as important to have young players who have developed in the club and know it inside out.

FIFA magazine: What’s happening to Real Madrid?Why is it not as consistent as it used to be?

Casillas: I don’t know but everything fluctuates.These things happen with teams from time to time and immediately everyone panics even though we may have lost by a narrow margin.  But I just accept this as part and parcel of the game and that journalists have to jump on such stories to pad out their pages the following day.

FIFA magazine: Is that not unfair to put it that way?

Casillas: That’s the way it is.I accept it and I’m also conscious of the fact that that’s how I became famous, so I don’t complain; that’s the way it is and that’s the way I take it.

FIFA magazine: Some people claim we are seeing the end of an era and that now Barcelona are beginning to rule the roost.How do you see it?

Casillas: That’s not the way I see it although I respect their opinions. That’s just what we’ve been talking about.Newspapers need to sell so they drum up stories that then need to be proven true or otherwise.I have faith in our squad, all the more so because of the players themselves, who are the best in the world. Some of them have been voted as such, so I don’t see any deterioration in standards in the team or the style.The trouble is that we are under constant pressure and people forget that we are human and that it affects us. But we could easily reappear at the top.

FIFA magazine: You have now become an icon at Real Madrid.Do you ever see yourself playing for another team?

Casillas: I’ll try to avoid that as much as possible, but you never know what’s around the corner and you can never say never. But if I can help it, I’d like to stay here for ever.I arrived here at the age of eight and I am still part of the set-up and still love it.I have won many titles, had some wonderful experiences and I can’t see myself anywhere else. Every so often I hear that I’m expected to go here or there but if I have anything to do with it, I’ll be staying put.

FIFA magazine: Despite all the multimillion offers?

Casillas: I am talking about feelings.

FIFA magazine: Do you enjoy watching football in your free time?

Casillas: Not much.I’m not obsessed with it.If I happen to be at home and there’s a match on the television, then I’ll watch it but I don’t go out of my way to watch a certain game; it has to be a coincidence such as I happen to be in the house and the television happens to be on and it happens to be a good game.Otherwise I don’t watch matches.

FIFA magazine: Who are playing good football these days?

Casillas: It depends, as always, but I haven’t got much time for Italian football, for example... I admit it, it’s hard for me to watch it – I just don’t enjoy that type of football.I prefer English or Spanish football because it is more dynamic and creative.Italian football is too cagey for my liking but it has some great players.

FIFA magazine: Why is it that, with such a strong league, the Spanish national team doesn’t perform better?

Casillas: It’s a question that everybody asks himself, and particularly us, but obviously something is wrong.

FIFA magazine: Could it be that too much emphasis is put on the league and not enough on the national side?

Casillas: It’s very possible.I see other national teams such as Argentina or Brazil where the players set greater store on their national side and concentrate less on the league or club. But in Spain the reverse is true and this – sadly – has an effect and it’s a pity.

FIFA magazine: You have won the FIFA World Youth Championship.What memories do you have of that tournament in Nigeria in 1999?

Casillas: It was a fantastic moment, something quite incredible, especially as Spain had never won before. I was only 17 years old and most of my team-mates were 19. I managed to ward off the shots in two matches and the experience was phenomenal. At that age, you experience everything very differently.

FIFA magazine: But your big moment came in 2002, especially towards the end of the season...

Casillas: Yes. Ironically, it had been a bad season up to the final because I had not been playing regularly for Real Madrid. In that Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen in Edinburgh in 2002, Cesar, the goalkeeper, was injured and I replaced him towards the end. One of my saves kept us in the lead and we ended up champions.Then I was called into the team for the World Cup in Koreaand Japan and we got as far as the quarter-finals – a lot of action in just a few days.It was incredible.

FIFA magazine: And since then you have been an ever present.

Casillas: Fortunately, I have managed to maintain consistency and I am very happy with my performance.

FIFA magazine: Which goalkeepers do you admire the most?

Casillas: Amongst the youngsters, perhaps the Frenchman Frey and the German Hildebrand, and from the old guard, I have always liked Buffon, Kahn...

FIFA magazine: If you could look into the future, what would you like most for your career?

Casillas: I’d like no more than to keep on performing the way I am now, win more titles, be regarded as one of the best in the world and, if at all possible, I’d like the Spanish national team to hit the headlines with some positive news.

FIFA magazine: What will you be telling your grandchildren?

Casillas: That I was a great goalkeeper, that I played for Real Madrid and the Spanish national team for many years and that I was admired and respected as one of the best.