The former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has praised his Real Madrid compatriot Iker Casillas by saying that he is one of the best in world. Casillas is also the captain of the Real Madrid team.
Despite being a goalkeeper, the 31-year-old has come extremely close to be named as one of the front-runners for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award in recent seasons. Van der Sar has also hailed the achievements of the Spaniard, who has managed to lift every major trophy at club and international level. The player, though, has been having a number of altercations with the current manager José Mourinho.
As a result, he has not been holding a first-team position like in the past. However, the player will be missing out on the Champions league match against Manchester United due to his failure to recover from the recent injury. Casillas suffered a fracture to his thumb while playing in the Spanish league. As a result, it has not given the selection headache for the manager Mourinho in recent weeks. The Portuguese, though, revealed that Casillas is closer to first-team action, but the player is not expected to be part of the starting line-up against Manchester United.
“What can we say about Casillas? He is 31-years-old and has won everything. I think he started playing for the first team of Real Madrid at the age of 17 or 18 , that says everything. He has been wonderful for all this time for both Real Madrid and the Spanish national team. I do not know him personally, but I see him, I read his interviews, and I`ve never heard anything bad about him. He`s a great captain for Real Madrid and for Spain,” said Edwin van Der Sar, who has retired from professional football a few years ago.