鈥楥鈥檈st fini鈥, says tearful Casillas to Real
Print Edition
“c’EST fini”.
With those few words in French a tearful Iker Casillas brought to an end his farewell statement yesterday to the Real Madrid fans he has served as first-team goalkeeper and captain for 16 seasons.
Dressed in a dark blue shirt and sitting alone in front of the assembled media at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium press room, the 34-year-old, who is leaving for Portuguese side Porto, choked up several times as he thanked Real for “giving me everything”.
“This club also moulded me as a person and helped me to grow,” said Casillas, who joined the Real academy at the age of nine and debuted for the first team at 18. “Beyond remembering me as a good goalkeeper or a bad goalkeeper I just hope that people remember me for being a good person.”
Casillas was speaking after Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo published an interview with his parents yesterday in which they said their son had been forced out of the club by president Florentino Perez.
Casillas had been the victim of an orchestrated campaign of “vilification” in recent years which eventually prompted his decision to quit, they added.
Real did not immediately respond to a request for comment and Casillas did not take questions after making his statement, in which he did not mention Perez by name.
The impression remains that the Spain captain is leaving under a cloud after he was whistled by some fans at the Bernabeu last season, when Real failed to win major silverware.
It was telling that no Real officials appeared with him yesterday, in huge contrast to his close friend and former Spain teammate Xavi Hernandez.
Xavi, 35, left Barcelona for Qatari side al-Sadd at the end of last season and was given a series of rousing sendoffs by fans, officials and teammates at the Nou Camp.
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