From Keepers to A Keeper Named Iker

Saya me re-posted artikel ini dari web www.realmadridinfo.wordpress.com, teman-teman bisa follow twitter mereka di @rmadridinfo. Judul asli artikel ini adalah Words of Goalkeepers to “The Goalkeeper”. Tujuan saya menulis artikel adalah apresiasi saya untuk dedikasi luar biasa yang ditunjukkan kiper terbaik dunia ini terhadap Spanyol, dan pastinya, Real Madrid. Dan dia tak lain tak bukan adalah…

“Saint” Iker Casillas

Iker lahir pada 20 Mei 1981 dengan nama Iker Casillas Fernandez. Casillas adalah nama ayahnya, sementara Fernandez adalah nama ibunya. Ayahnya adalah seorang pegawai negeri dan ibunya adalah seorang penata rambut lokal.

Casillas mengawali karir bersama tim muda Real Madrid, sebelum masuk tim senior menggantikan Bodo Ilgner. Perannya tak tergantikan hingga akhirnya membawa Madrid menjuarai Liga Champions tahun 2000, dan gelar pribadinya, pemain termuda yang bermain di final Liga Champions. Sempat drop dari tim utama karena permainan yang menurun dan digantikan oleh Cesar Sanchez, Iker bangkit dan tampil sebagai seorang “Saint” di final Liga Champions tahun 2002 dengan melakukan penyelamatan “super” gemilang melawan Bayern Leverkusen.

Hingga saat ini, peran Iker Casillas tak tergantikan. Ia adalah kiper sekaligus kapten tim pertama yang mengangkat trofi Piala Eropa tahun 2008. Ia juga adalah kiper-kapten ketiga yang mengangkat Piala Dunia tahun 2010. Prestasi yang luar biasa untuk seorang kiper. Tercatat 5 tahun berturut-turut dalam daftar kiper terbaik sedunia. Sekaligus satu-satunya kiper yang telah merasakan semua gelar di semua kompetisi yang diikutinya, dalam level klub, maupun level Nasional.

Tahun ini Iker kembali dinominasikan sebagai calon peraih Ballon D’Or atau pemain terbaik dunia, setelah tahun 2008 gagal meraihnya. Menurut saya ini adalah saatnya Casillas meraih gelar ini mengingat sumbangsihnya yang luar biasa terhadap Real Madrid dan terhadap Spanyol. Tapi jikapun gelar itu bukan milik Casillas tahun ini, yang harus adalah emas sea games menjadi milik Indonesia. Titik.

Dari Kiper untuk Iker

Dino Zoff, the man who lifted the World Cup in 1982 was reminded of that glory day when 28 yrs later he saw Iker do the same in South Africa. Iker Casillas is only the third goal keeper to lift the World Cup including Zoff in 1982 and Giampiero Combi in 1934.  Zoff: “For me it was exciting to see Casillas lifts the trophy. I was reminded of the box at the Bernabeu. What you feel in that moment you cannot put into words. Emotions are so many that you’re on a cloud. I remember that I almost to kiss the Queen of Spain”

Dino Zoff dalam kostum Italia, kini menjadi pelatih.

Zoff had some words to describe Casillas’s attributes “The strikers will face him thinking about what to do. His figure is so large and has grown over time. Rival would always feel he commands respect and even fear. In one on one he is the best. I always want to have Iker on my team as a goalkeeper.”

Zoff also talked about whats the advantage of having him in the side, “It allows you to take more risks, think more in attack. If something goes wrong you always know Casillas is back there. If a forward goes against him 1 on 1 he is going to fail or have to do something extraordinary to beat him”

Zoff also shared his best Casillas moment, “Robben bargained which was natural. He tried to do something different which he rarely does and wouldn’t have done against any other goalkeeper.”

What Iker had with Oliver Kahn  in Champions League final between Real Madrid and Bayern is something more than words and after all Kahn was always a very expressive goalkeeper. Zoff also talked about his present list of favourite goalies, “Right now Casillas is the best then comes Buffon, Cech or Julio Cesar. One day Manuel Neuer might join that league. But today Iker is #1″

From across the Atlantic, another goalkeeper whose personality has given too many debates, José Luis Chilavert, also thinks: “Iker, for his experience, quality and completeness, is the best keeper in the world.”

Chilavert, kiper yang mencetak 62 gol sepanjang karirnya.

“Casillas is one of the few keepers I have seen in my life who are so good in one on one situation. He covers a lot when facing the striker and uses all parts of the body when needed to stop the ball. Iker has set a style which is bold and comprehensive” said Jose Angel Iribar who was a one club keeper for Athletic Bilbao and that also for 20 long years.

Ramallets, kiper legendaris Barcelona, 5 kali beruntun meraih Zamora Tr.

Antonio Ramallets who spent most of his career at FC Barcelona, during the 1950s and early 1960s, winning the Zamora Trophy as the best goalkeeper in La Liga on five occasions, and 17 major club honours, he once said “During a one on one situation Casillas knows the exact time till which he needs to hold up against the attacker. This makes the attacker to take an extreme step which most of the time declares Iker as the winner.”

Buffon, legenda sepakbola Italia, masih bermain untuk Juventus hingga saat ini. Penyelamatan gemilang juga dilakukannya ketika menahan sundulan kepala Zinedine Zidane di final piala dunia 2006, dan Italia keluar sebagai juara.

For years, the world wondered if the best goalkeeper in the world was Gianluigi Buffon or Casillas, and many have opted for the Spanish. They have always maintained a good relationship and have always spoken well about each other. “What I like best is that Iker is a goalkeeper who makes few mistakes. Seldom one of his teams will lose a game because he has failed and but many times the team will win because Iker was good” said the Italian about Casillas.

Sesama Kiper Spanyol

In Spain goalkeeping is one position which has had a huge amount of competition for a long time. This makes the relationship between Iker and Pepe Reina much more special, “For Iker first thing I can say is that beyond a great keeper he is my friend. He is a saint with a heart bigger than what all he has achieved in his career, and that’s saying a lot about him” said Reina.

Pepe Reina. Didikan Barcelona yang sukses di Liverpool.

Together Pepe Reina and Iker Casillas have won the Euro and the World Cup and more than that have travelled the painful and tiring journey of achieving such great heights. “Iker has believed in us in moments when others had given up” said the Liverpool GK who might start today against England.

Victor Valdes who is the last of the goalkeeper to join the Spanish national team said “In a team you need a goalkeeper with whom you can work and also have fun. Then you stop and think there is only one in the history of football who matches that characteristic.” after the triumph in South Africa.

V. Valdes. Kiper no. 1 Barcelona hingga saat ini. No. 3 di Spanyol.

De Gea. Saat masih bermain di Atletico Madrid. Rival sekota Iker Casillas.

David De Gea who is seen as the goal keeper to take the torch from Iker Casillas also has huge words to say about his Spanish captain, “For me he is the benchmark in goal keeping from whom I look to learn from. Both in respect of what he does in goal and beyond. For me he is the best and would always be his student.”

Ochotorena ketika bermain di Real Madrid.

The words of José Manuel Ochotorena, the goalkeeping coach should summarize who Casillas is: “To emphasize on who Casillas is, he is someone who is still willing to work, learn and improve.”

“The Spaniard’s Way”