In 2010 Iker Casillas achieved what every footballer dreams of: he won the World Cup. Back then the Real Madrid captain was at the peak of his powers. On the other side of the world at the same time, another goalkeeper by the name of Keylor Navas had just achieved his latest success, winning the summer Clausura in Costa Rica’s Campeonato Scotiabank. How times change.
Four years on and perhaps not even Navas can believe how far he has come. The Costa Rican’s first season in Spain was both sweet and bitter. He performed admirably for Albacete yet his efforts could not prevent his side from being relegated. Sent on loan to Levante in the Primera Division, Navas only made his top flight debut on the final day of the 2011-12 season. Still he somehow impressed enough that the club bought him outright.
Still, Navas was there only to play second fiddle to Gustavo Munua. But it only took him one more season to earn first-choice ‘keeper status and he took the opportunity with both hands. Navas earned the plaudits as he made the most number of saves last year in La Liga, 160 in total. With only 39 goals conceded in 37 appearances, he helped Levante achieve the fifth-tightest defence in the League, only behind the four teams that qualified for the Champions League. At the World Cup in Brazil, things only got better.
Navas was one of the reasons why unfancied Costa Rica topped a group with three previous World Cup winners in Italy, Uruguay and England. Navas’ performances between the posts were key as his nation went all the way to the quarter finals where only on penalties did they lose to the Netherlands. Navas was named man of the match and there were no doubts about it.
Following an incredibly successful 12 months where Navas’ stock has risen out of sight, on Sunday it was made official that Real Madrid had agreed to pay Levante €10m for his services and he is not going there to sit on the bench either. Not if Real Madrid’s fans were to decide anyway.
A survey by AS, the Madrid sports daily, found that more than half of fans believe Navas should become the automatic first choice. Diego Lopez was the second preference with 29% of the vote. Marca, whose readers perhaps are even more representative of Madrid fan base, saw a staggering 85% of fans say Navas should be first choice.
The results highlight just how far Navas’ career has advanced and just how far Casillas’ career has regressed. There was a time in Spain when Casillas was referred to as San Iker. And there were good reasons for it. But since the final of Euro 2012 his career has been on a fast downward trajectory. He is no longer considered saintly but more like a fallen angel.
It all started with the fallout with Jose Mourinho that saw him lose his place in the first team. With Carlo Ancelotti’s arrival at the beginning of last season, many thought he would be reinstated as first choice – and probably so did he. But, the Italian stuck with Lopez, as Mourinho had done, suggesting that the Portuguese did indeed have sporting reasons for dropping Real Madrid’s golden boy.
And then came the final of the Champions League, where his mistake saw Los Blancos just seconds away from losing La Decima. Things got infinitely worse in Brazil. Two dreadful performances saw Casillas pick the ball out of his seven times as Spain were sent packing on the first plane back home.
Ancelotti said last week that Casillas will start the final of the European Super Cup against Sevilla in Cardiff. But after his latest poor showing against Manchester United in a pre-season friendly, Ancelotti’s doubts about Casillas have surely not subsided and, if anything, have risen.
It does seem that Navas’ arrival only will ensure that Casillas continues to sit on the bench. Yet the Costa Rican is being diplomatic about it. “To be first choice here is complicated,” he told reporters after his transfer was made official. Underneath his modesty however, one suspects that he knows he could well be. And that would really cap it off for Navas. He must be pinching himself about how things have turned out. As for Casillas, it must be a similar feeling of disbelief but for completely opposite reasons.
