International Football
NIGERIA ’99 GOALKEEPER; SPAIN AND REAL MADRID GREAT IKER CASILLAS, 39, RETIRES
Spain’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Iker Casillas announced his retirement on Tuesday (Aug 4), after being sidelined for more than a year with a heart problem.
Sports Village Square recalls that the legendary goalkeeper also starred for Spain at the 1999 World Youth Championship held in Nigeria.
Casillas, 39, also won the European Championship twice with his country in a trophy-laden career which included more than 700 games for Real Madrid.
“Today is both one of the most important and most difficult days of my sporting life, the time to say goodbye has arrived,” he said on Twitter.
Casillas joined Portuguese side Porto in 2015 after a tearful departure from Madrid. He suffered a heart attack in May last year.
He played 167 times for Spain, winning the 2010 World Cup and the Euros in 2008 and 2012 in a golden age for Spanish football.
He lifted five La Liga titles and the Champions League on three occasions during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“The best goalkeeper in the history of Real Madrid and Spanish football joined us at the age of 9. He was formed here and defended our shirt for 25 years, becoming one of our most emblematic captains of all time,” the club said in a statement.
“Today one of the most important footballers in our 118 years of history calls it a day as a professional player, a player we love and admire, a goalkeeper who has made the Real Madrid legacy bigger with his work and exemplary behaviour both on and off the pitch,” they added.
Former club and country team-mate Sergio Ramos was among many players to praise the veteran, nicknamed ‘The Saint’, on social media.
“Football thanks you, man. Forever a legend @IkerCasillas,” Ramos tweeted.
Vicente del Bosque, who coached Casillas at Madrid and with Spain also hailed his efforts.
“Casillas has been a hero of the national team and Spanish football,” he said.
In June, Casillas said he was ending his bid to run for the presidency of the Spanish Football Federation, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
-AFP
Milestones of a magnificent career
At international level
- Participated in 4 FIFA World Cups
- World champion at South Africa 2010
- Adidas Golden Glove winner in 2010
- Double European Champion (2008 and 2012)
- Bronze medallist at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Egypt 1997
- Champion at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Nigeria 1999
At club level
- 1 FIFA Club World Cup (with Real Madrid)
- 2 Intercontinental Cups (with Real Madrid)
- 3 UEFA Champions League titles (with Real Madrid)
- 2 UEFA European Super Cups (with Real Madrid)
- 7 league titles (5 with Real Madrid, 2 with Porto)
- 4 Spanish Super Cups
- 2 Copas del Rey
- 1 Taças de Portugal
- 1 Portuguese Super Cup
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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