Casillas back in spotlight

By: uefa.com's Duncan Maclay (June 6, 2002)

When Spain's No1 goalkeeper, Santiago Cañizares, dropped a bottle of aftershave on his foot days before the squad set off for the FIFA World Cup finals, it was Iker Casillas who came up smelling of roses.

Inspired timing
Casillas, relegated to the Real Madrid CF bench throughout most of last season, has enjoyed something of a revival - if such a thing is possible for a 20-year-old - over the past six weeks. Indisputably the hero of Madrid's 2-1 UEFA Champions League final triumph, he now finds himself in the No1 shirt for Spain, thanks to Cañizares's severed tendon.

Dramatic turnaround
As he fielded questions in a Spanish media conference ahead of the match against Paraguay in Jeonju, Casillas could be forgiven for pinching himself. In April the glare of the camera spotlights must have been but a distant memory.

Paraguayan inquisition
Almost inevitably, in a week when Paraguay keeper José Luis Chilavert has amused his flamboyant self by taunting the Spanish, Casillas underwent something of an inquisition on the subject of the RC Strasbourg stopper.

Bold prediction
Asked about Chilavert's assertion that he would score twice, "once from a free-kick and once from a penalty", against him, Casillas was sanguine. "I don't care what he says. I am focussed on the game, nothing else."

No extrovert
Had he studied Chilavert's penalty techniques? "No absolutely not, I only deal with reality -what happens to me and nothing more." He added: "I am more concerned about what Roque Santa Cruz can do and how Paraguay take their corners." This is a man who concentrates on the task in hand, not the ravings one of the game's more famous extroverts.

Bitter memories
Casillas is not one to have his head turned unnecessarily, or to get caught up in what is quite clearly a hyped up situation. There is an old head on his young shoulders, something that is an asset in a goalkeeper. He knows as well as the next Spaniard that four years ago in France, Spain were effectively eliminated from the tournament by a 0-0 draw with Paraguay. Since then Chilavert has delighted in reminding people of this at every opportunity. Since the draw for the 2002 finals was made in December, Paraguay's captain has had ample chances.

'Good feeling'
Certainly, it takes more than Chilavert to warm Casillas's blood. "I have a good feeling about this game. If we win it, we are assured of a place in the last 16 and that is our aim at the moment. Beyond that we shall just wait and see."

Final target And there is ambition too in Casillas' make-up, as one would expect from a man who already has two UEFA Champions League winner's medals in his glove bag. "Of course, we are here to play in the World Cup final. If we weren't what would be the point? It is no good coming all this way and saying 'If we make the quarter-finals or semi-finals that will be OK.' We are here to win the tournament." If they do, it will be in no small part down to the work of Casillas.