Valdes the underrated?

JuvenelCuore wrote:Like I said. The penalty was matched by the Paraguayan goalkeeper who did the same, and the saves in the final were all matched by Stekelenburg. That is a reality. I watched most games of the World Cup, and by most I mean all which were not between two small teams so I know full well how he played.

Honestly, you say that Valdes is only good because he has Barcelona retaining possession, but what did Spain do in the World Cup ? Same style. Especially v. Germany. Boring game if I have seen one.

Gigi > All. :Coffee:

So if the opposition GK saves a penelty Casillas penelty save is worthless now? Still doesn't change shit becouse Spain wouldn't qualify without his save wouldn't it?

And no, I'm not saying Valdes is good becouse of the defence. I'm just saying that he has a great defense guarding his net while Casillas has most of the time had pretty shitty defense. That's a fact

omarish wrote:

JuvenelCuore wrote:Like I said. The penalty was matched by the Paraguayan goalkeeper who did the same, and the saves in the final were all matched by Stekelenburg. That is a reality. I watched most games of the World Cup, and by most I mean all which were not between two small teams so I know full well how he played.

Honestly, you say that Valdes is only good because he has Barcelona retaining possession, but what did Spain do in the World Cup ? Same style. Especially v. Germany. Boring game if I have seen one.

Gigi > All. :Coffee:

So if the opposition GK saves a penelty Casillas penelty save is worthless now? Still doesn't change shit becouse Spain wouldn't qualify without his save wouldn't it?

And no, I'm not saying Valdes is good becouse of the defence. I'm just saying that he has a great defense guarding his net while Casillas has most of the time had pretty shitty defense. That's a fact

this is really funny

when we were comparing Barca's defence to Real's defence. couple of month ago..

Most madrid fans comments:
Ramos> Alves
Pepe>Pique
Carvalho>Puyol
Marcelo> Abidal

lol..

& btw Valdes played ALOT if matches with Mascherano, Busquets & Abidal as Cbs.. still he conceded the least goals..

Valdes was always great in all big games.. especially in the last 3 seasons + CL Final 2006 ( imo he was MOM, 5 crucial saves, including 3 saves vs Henry "2/ 1 on 1" )

did u watch the saves that won us CL 2006?
saves vs chelsea (vs Drogba 4saves including a double save) and manutd in CL 2009 (vs c.ronaldo twice)..

Or saves vs Madrid in Classico..

2-2 bernabeu 2011/2012 (MOM performance)
3-2 camp nou 2011/2012
2-0 bernabeu 2009/2010 (vdv 1 on 1)
1-0 camp nou 2009/2010 ( c.ronaldo 1 on 1 etc..)
2-0 camp nou 2008/2009 ( drenthe 1 on 1 etc..)

etc..

Dont care who is better then who, all I know is I wouldnt swap Valdes for Iker at this point in time.

omarish wrote:
Maybe in the CL? Or maybe becouse our defense has been so shit in the past that the attacking quality (which is very high btw) in La Liga has breached it so many times? Also La Liga wasn't always a 2 horse race under the decade Casillas has been with us.

I never said Casillas is better than Buffon. What annoys me is how you discredit Casillas. A living great and a legend and you call him mediocre just so your "fanboyism" (which you so hate apparently) can live happily with the number one spot cemented for Buffon.

Watch the WC. I tought saving a penelty and keeping a clean sheet in the final (in which he made wonderful saves) is enough proof. David Villa was great aswell, but his goals wouldn't have mattered if Casillas didn't keep the clean sheet.

He wasn't really that good at the WC. The penalty save(which reina told him which way to go) and that save in the final has clouded the peoples judgement. ffs against paraguay, just moment after the penalty he almost lost the game for spain when he fumbled a easy shot to a opposite player IIRC who almost scored. His only outstanding moments were those 2 that I have already mentioned.

The real heroes for Spain were Iniesta and Villa..

Khaledbarca wrote:

omarish wrote:It's clear to why Casillas is rated much higher than Valdes.

Casillas saves his team, Valdes doesn't do that so often.

How many times hasn't Casillas saved Madrid from total humiliation from Barca?

How many times has Valdes saved Barca?

The fact that Casillas has NEVER let a goal past him in a final is a proof of this. Casillas has played with a shaky defense most of the times and has always performed well. A mistake here and there doesn't change it. Casillas always performs when it most matters, the mistakes doesn't happen for example Barca, or when it matters overall.

Thus why I still think Casillas > Valdes recent years and always

I invite u to watch this Video:




Plus

- Casillas Career (Real Madrid): 588 matches, 626 Goals conceded (Ratio: 1.064)

- Valdes Career (Barcelona): 423 matches, 325 Goals conceded (Ratio: 0.768)

One of the best videos I have watched recently. How is this guy so underrated is beyond me.

- Abel Resino has the unbeaten record in Spain with 925 minutes. Valdes with 877, is only 48 minutes to match it.
- Valdés has an unbeaten streak of 9 games, 607 mins in Liga, 270 in Champions League [md]

anyidea about the European record? (all competitions?)

- The European Record ( Just League matches): Van der Sar (1311 min).


i read somewhere that the European all competitions record (1,196 by a GK from Rangers ??) not sure though!! any idea?

omarish wrote:

JuvenelCuore wrote:Like I said. The penalty was matched by the Paraguayan goalkeeper who did the same, and the saves in the final were all matched by Stekelenburg. That is a reality. I watched most games of the World Cup, and by most I mean all which were not between two small teams so I know full well how he played.

Honestly, you say that Valdes is only good because he has Barcelona retaining possession, but what did Spain do in the World Cup ? Same style. Especially v. Germany. Boring game if I have seen one.

Gigi > All. :Coffee:

So if the opposition GK saves a penelty Casillas penelty save is worthless now? Still doesn't change shit becouse Spain wouldn't qualify without his save wouldn't it?

And no, I'm not saying Valdes is good becouse of the defence. I'm just saying that he has a great defense guarding his net while Casillas has most of the time had pretty shitty defense. That's a fact

If one guy lands on the moon, it is unbelievable. If two do it, it is cool. It does change in terms of how great it was, not the outcome.

Casillas makes mistakes though, explain that ?

JuvenelCuore wrote:@Omarish is the reason why I do not even bother. Sigh.

Casillas was unable to save Spain. All of his "heroics" were matched. v. Paraguay when he saved a penalty. The Paraguayan goalkeeper did the same. Casillas made a save on a breakaway, as Stekelenburg did...in the same game.

Compare that to Gianluigi Buffon who single-handedly kept Italia in the World Cup. Villa was the real hero for Spain, not Casillas.

Casillas is mediocre. On any team where he would not dominate other teams, he would end up like the 5 0 rout Barcelona gave to Real Madrid. Showed his true colors there when he did not have a defence behind him; figuratively, not lierally. :Coffee:

Sigh.

I have come to the conclusion that you have not watched Real Madrid on a consistent basis from 2002-2009.

Why?

Because exactly what you said Buffon did for Italy at the world cup , Casillas did for Madrid for 6 years. Man you're a joke . Casillas is mediocre = Intriguing story.

Oh and I'm sure Buffon was the single handed hero behind

Zambrotta..Canavaro..Materazzi/Nesta....Grosso.

What the hell
he was probably the real genius behind

Thuram/Zebina Thuram/Tudor Canavaro Zambrotta/Chiellini as well right.

It's a real coincidence he could never work the same wonders with Grygera, Legrotaille , and Molinaro - a real shame.

or with Barzagli and panucci at the Euro's.


Face it man , when you have a nothing defence behind you it's tough , regardless of the Keeper. The fact that you are unable to appreciate that Casillas has at least been one of the best goalkeepers of this era, is simply depressing.

Also won't delve too far into the comparison. Casillas is a good keeper and because of the nature of the way his team plays he's preferred. Valdes has been better the last 3 seasons for Barca though. I wouldn't ever change Valdes for Casillas, simply because what Barca need is a keeper of Valdes' skillset. He is number one in 1v1s and he is probably the best keeper in history with the ball at his feet. He's wonderfully cool and has superb decision-making. To me it doesn't matter that he used to make lots of mistakes because he's twice the keeper he was of 5 years ago.

IMO he's one of the better players in the squad, and yet people still say he's a weakness. Epic fail.

Buffon's the best keeper I've seen though.

This is like saying Pedro or Busquets are better than Nani and Toure. Sure, Pedro and Busquets do their job perfectly for Barcelona, but that doesn't mean they're the best players in their position, or that other teams would benefit much for their skillset.

Omniscient wrote:This is like saying Pedro or Busquets are better than Nani and Toure. Sure, Pedro and Busquets do their job perfectly for Barcelona, but that doesn't mean they're the best players in their position, or that other teams would benefit much for their skillset.

Well... for Barca they're better then no? As Barca fans I'm pretty sure thats all we care about, having the best players at our club.

ragbirjosh wrote:

JuvenelCuore wrote:@Omarish is the reason why I do not even bother. Sigh.

Casillas was unable to save Spain. All of his "heroics" were matched. v. Paraguay when he saved a penalty. The Paraguayan goalkeeper did the same. Casillas made a save on a breakaway, as Stekelenburg did...in the same game.

Compare that to Gianluigi Buffon who single-handedly kept Italia in the World Cup. Villa was the real hero for Spain, not Casillas.

Casillas is mediocre. On any team where he would not dominate other teams, he would end up like the 5 0 rout Barcelona gave to Real Madrid. Showed his true colors there when he did not have a defence behind him; figuratively, not lierally. :Coffee:

Sigh.

I have come to the conclusion that you have not watched Real Madrid on a consistent basis from 2002-2009.

Why?

Because exactly what you said Buffon did for Italy at the world cup , Casillas did for Madrid for 6 years. Man you're a joke . Casillas is mediocre = Intriguing story.

Oh and I'm sure Buffon was the single handed hero behind

Zambrotta..Canavaro..Materazzi/Nesta....Grosso.

What the hell
he was probably the real genius behind

Thuram/Zebina Thuram/Tudor Canavaro Zambrotta/Chiellini as well right.

It's a real coincidence he could never work the same wonders with Grygera, Legrotaille , and Molinaro - a real shame.

or with Barzagli and panucci at the Euro's.


Face it man , when you have a nothing defence behind you it's tough , regardless of the Keeper. The fact that you are unable to appreciate that Casillas has at least been one of the best goalkeepers of this era, is simply depressing.

Check the saves Buffon made in the World Cup:



Find me saves of that calibre. You will not find me any.

JuvenelCuore wrote:

ragbirjosh wrote:

JuvenelCuore wrote:@Omarish is the reason why I do not even bother. Sigh.

Casillas was unable to save Spain. All of his "heroics" were matched. v. Paraguay when he saved a penalty. The Paraguayan goalkeeper did the same. Casillas made a save on a breakaway, as Stekelenburg did...in the same game.

Compare that to Gianluigi Buffon who single-handedly kept Italia in the World Cup. Villa was the real hero for Spain, not Casillas.

Casillas is mediocre. On any team where he would not dominate other teams, he would end up like the 5 0 rout Barcelona gave to Real Madrid. Showed his true colors there when he did not have a defence behind him; figuratively, not lierally. :Coffee:

Sigh.

I have come to the conclusion that you have not watched Real Madrid on a consistent basis from 2002-2009.

Why?

Because exactly what you said Buffon did for Italy at the world cup , Casillas did for Madrid for 6 years. Man you're a joke . Casillas is mediocre = Intriguing story.

Oh and I'm sure Buffon was the single handed hero behind

Zambrotta..Canavaro..Materazzi/Nesta....Grosso.

What the hell
he was probably the real genius behind

Thuram/Zebina Thuram/Tudor Canavaro Zambrotta/Chiellini as well right.

It's a real coincidence he could never work the same wonders with Grygera, Legrotaille , and Molinaro - a real shame.

or with Barzagli and panucci at the Euro's.


Face it man , when you have a nothing defence behind you it's tough , regardless of the Keeper. The fact that you are unable to appreciate that Casillas has at least been one of the best goalkeepers of this era, is simply depressing.

Check the saves Buffon made in the World Cup:



Find me saves of that calibre. You will not find me any.

Man , the fact that Casillas probably made better saves than that in a 0-4 loss to Liverpool perfectly illustrates my point.

Nothing defence = Goals conceeded regardless of the keeeper.

Better saves?

Here's the aformentioned Liverpool game





I accept Buffon as one of the all time greats , but your failure to do the same for Casillas pisses me off.


On Topic- Valdes has been more consistent over the last 3 years and has vastly improved from his error riddled Espanyol days.He has the perfect skillset for Barcelona and I think he's a top 5 goalkeeper in the world.That being said I would never take him over Casillas although...I think he can now make a real push to overthrow Reina as 2nd choice for the Spanish NT.

JuvenelCuore wrote:
Compare that to Gianluigi Buffon who single-handedly kept Italia in the World Cup. Villa was the real hero for Spain, not Casillas.
Casillas is mediocre.

1. Villa was the hero for Spain but only up to the quarter final. Then onwards Iniesta, Casillas and Xavi were more important. Since latter matches are given more importance in the way we remember major competitions it's understandable that Casillas' performance in the final will be mentioned again and again.

2. Saying that Buffon kept Italy single handedly in WC 2006 is an exaggeration. The entire defense and defensive midfield was excellent and the most outstanding defensive player was Cannavaro. Casillas didn't quite have one such player to rely on. Puyol did well and Pique a little less so but neither of them can compare with what Cannavaro did. Buffon 2006 is indeed a better performance than Casillas 2010 and is very special but it is still behind Kahn 2002. Yes Kahn made that one mistake in the final that Buffon didn't but considering the team he played for and the quality of the defenders and midfielders supporting him it was a super human performance and one of the best ever seen in world cup history.

3. Casillas overall is not quite as complete a goal keeper and commander of his area as Buffon is and has not been very consistent in recent years. However there are two reasons why he is so highly regarded. One is that he is a miracle worker and has a tendency to pull off jaw dropping saves every now and then. This is something Xavi also said about him and termed it as a special gift. The other reason is Casillas has a habit of standing out in big matches.

4. Valdes is indeed underrated. Puyol is also underrated but Valdes even more so. The reason is that Barcelona is so known for it's midfield and attack that the defense sometimes does not get it's fair share of credit. As people have said Valdes is brilliant in one on one's and I must mention his concentration levels are immense. The one aspect in which I think he lacks is that he is not the best decision maker. Sometimes he rushes out of his goal when he should not have done so.

5. In all these discussions let me most importantly correct a mistake nearly all of us Barca fans made. Many congratulations to Valdes for breaking such a long standing clean sheet record!!!

Valdes is a keeper + sweeper

People underestimate how much he not only saves Barca on one on ones, but by coming out of the box and clearing what would then be a one on one. I disagree with you JD, i think most of the time he makes fantastic decision. It takes balls to even make those decisions sometimes. When you make decisions like that, occasionally you'll screw up, but he saves us so much more by that it's irrelevent. If you don't make those decisions you never screw up, but you'll be scored on more so :/. Thanks Valdes.

Not to mention he is best 1v1 in the world bar none.

He is the greatest keeper in the world for Barca. Easy. He might not be the best, but he is the best for Barca. I wouldn't trade him for anyone else, Kahn, Yashin, Casillas, Buffon, no one.

And he is indeed underrated, but hey, we're Barca. Haters gonna hate.

CBarca wrote:Valdes is a keeper + sweeper

People underestimate how much he not only saves Barca on one on ones, but by coming out of the box and clearing what would then be a one on one. I disagree with you JD, i think most of the time he makes fantastic decision. It takes balls to even make those decisions sometimes. When you make decisions like that, occasionally you'll screw up, but he saves us so much more by that it's irrelevent. If you don't make those decisions you never screw up, but you'll be scored on more so :/. Thanks Valdes.

Not to mention he is best 1v1 in the world bar none.

He is the greatest keeper in the world for Barca. Easy. He might not be the best, but he is the best for Barca. I wouldn't trade him for anyone else, Kahn, Yashin, Casillas, Buffon, no one.

And he is indeed underrated, but hey, we're Barca. Haters gonna hate.

Agree with every bit. The one thing that makes people think less of Valdes, is his keeping style. Valdes is a keeper that most of the times doesn't make risky decisions, but safe wise ones. It's rarely that you see Valdes going for that crazy jump that Wows everyone, that is due to his amazing ability of reading the game. Valdes knows exactly where to position himself. If Valdes was a poker player, he'd be the kind of player who bases his decisions on statistics :study:

Valdes footwork has changed dramatically from one of the scariest to one of the greatest. I give alot of credit to Pep for getting the best out of his players. Iniesta became a different player right from the first La Liga game under Pep. Messi became a better player. Busquets is simply amazing. Yes growing up is a factor, but Pep is also a huge factor as well. Every player when speaking about Pep they say: "He knows how to explain exactly what he wants from us". Pep is a visionary and knows how to communicate well with the players. He saw the exact kind of keeper Barca needs Valdes to become. He converted him into Barca's ideal goalkeepr, or goalsweeper.

He has simply become one of the most improved keeper in the past three years. He was absolutely brilliant in the Champions League final in 10 with his acobatic punches and he was the man of the match in the first leg of the SuperCopa and the second leg.

ragbirjosh wrote:

JuvenelCuore wrote:

ragbirjosh wrote:

JuvenelCuore wrote:@Omarish is the reason why I do not even bother. Sigh.

Casillas was unable to save Spain. All of his "heroics" were matched. v. Paraguay when he saved a penalty. The Paraguayan goalkeeper did the same. Casillas made a save on a breakaway, as Stekelenburg did...in the same game.

Compare that to Gianluigi Buffon who single-handedly kept Italia in the World Cup. Villa was the real hero for Spain, not Casillas.

Casillas is mediocre. On any team where he would not dominate other teams, he would end up like the 5 0 rout Barcelona gave to Real Madrid. Showed his true colors there when he did not have a defence behind him; figuratively, not lierally. :Coffee:

Sigh.

I have come to the conclusion that you have not watched Real Madrid on a consistent basis from 2002-2009.

Why?

Because exactly what you said Buffon did for Italy at the world cup , Casillas did for Madrid for 6 years. Man you're a joke . Casillas is mediocre = Intriguing story.

Oh and I'm sure Buffon was the single handed hero behind

Zambrotta..Canavaro..Materazzi/Nesta....Grosso.

What the hell
he was probably the real genius behind

Thuram/Zebina Thuram/Tudor Canavaro Zambrotta/Chiellini as well right.

It's a real coincidence he could never work the same wonders with Grygera, Legrotaille , and Molinaro - a real shame.

or with Barzagli and panucci at the Euro's.


Face it man , when you have a nothing defence behind you it's tough , regardless of the Keeper. The fact that you are unable to appreciate that Casillas has at least been one of the best goalkeepers of this era, is simply depressing.

Check the saves Buffon made in the World Cup:



Find me saves of that calibre. You will not find me any.

Man , the fact that Casillas probably made better saves than that in a 0-4 loss to Liverpool perfectly illustrates my point.

Nothing defence = Goals conceeded regardless of the keeeper.

Better saves?

Here's the aformentioned Liverpool game





I accept Buffon as one of the all time greats , but your failure to do the same for Casillas pisses me off.


On Topic- Valdes has been more consistent over the last 3 years and has vastly improved from his error riddled Espanyol days.He has the perfect skillset for Barcelona and I think he's a top 5 goalkeeper in the world.That being said I would never take him over Casillas although...I think he can now make a real push to overthrow Reina as 2nd choice for the Spanish NT.

Don't forget Euro 2008, Italy v. Spain penalty shootouts.

Oh wait, Buffon saved a few, so Casillas's saves are worthless...

Incredible.

Valdes may have the better numbers (thanks to the team in front of him) but he doesn't have the Attributes that Casillas has.

casillas
buffon
khan
shmaichel

Lord Hispano wrote:Incredible.

Valdes may have the better numbers (thanks to the team in front of him) but he doesn't have the Attributes that Casillas has.

He has more

Valdes is a more "complete" goalkeeper than casillas. Which does not automatically makes him a better keeper.

Valdes is probably the best sweeper keeper I have seen in my life if I am to be honest and is perfect for Barcelona's playstyle. I do not think they could find anyone else to fill in that role that he plays so well for them.

Casillas at the young age of 30 has done so many amazing things, even more so than Buffon and that are often well over looked, like being the youngest goal keeper in history to start a UCL final (a record that still stands today) and he also kept a clean sheet to that point. Also in 2002 in the UCL final he came on and basically won us the match with a number of incredible saves.

His weakness though is he is not as strong in commanding his area as the likes of Khan and Buffon but his reflexes are some of the best I have seen in football and his performances in losing games such as Liverpool 5-0 and Barcelona 2-6 are some of the best keeping performances you will see despite the score line.

I do believe Casillas is highly underrated, but at the end of the day you can't change people's opinions.....

Crimson wrote:Is yet to concede a goal in any final he has played in (Not including one off cup games)
Two Champions League finals (2000, 2002), 0 goals conceded
Euro 2008 Final v Germany, 0 goals conceded
2010 World Cup Final v Holland, 0 goals conceded
2010 Copa del Rey Final v Barcelona, 0 Goals conceded

In both of Spain's Euro and World Cup wins Casillas did not concede a single goal outside of the group stages

68 clean sheets for Spain in 125 games, leading Spain and International records

582 games for Real Madrid, 6th highest in Real Madrid history.
Is also Real Madrid's most capped goalkeeper of all time.

Only 3rd ever goalkeeper/captain to lead his team to a World Cup, following greats Combi and Zoff.

Only goalkeeper/captain to lead his team to both the Euro's and World Cup titles and only goalkeeper/captain to lead his team to a Euro win

Holds the record for least amount of goals conceded by a winning team at a World Cup (with both Buffon and Barthez)

Has won 14 titles in 12 years since his professional debut

Has made the UEFA Team of the Year on 4 separate occasions: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
The FIFA/FIFPro World's best goalkeeper on 3 separate occasions: 2008, 2009, 2010
The FIFA World IX on 3 separate occasions: 2008, 2009, 2010

As well as the World Cup 2010 Golden Gloves and All Star Team; The Zamora Trophy in 2007-2008; and the FIFA.com team of the year in 2008

Holds the Spanish record with Reina for longest time without conceding a goal at International level: 710 minutes

Has 8 clean sheets in the World Cup Finals, only 2 more to equal the current record and 3 more to beat it, considering he is only 30 he should still be Spain's first choice come 2014

Has a current streak of 411 minutes (still going) without conceding a goal in a World Cup Finals. The current record is 517 minutes, so Casillas has a chance again to break this in 2014.

One of his saves during the quarterfinals versus South Korea during the 2002 FIFA World Cup was rated by FIFA as one of the top 10 saves of all time

The most capped player in Spanish history with 127 international appearances

Crimson wrote:Valdes is probably the best sweeper keeper I have seen in my life if I am to be honest and is perfect for Barcelona's playstyle. I do not think they could find anyone else to fill in that role that he plays so well for them.

Casillas at the young age of 30 has done so many amazing things, even more so than Buffon and that are often well over looked, like being the youngest goal keeper in history to start a UCL final (a record that still stands today) and he also kept a clean sheet to that point. Also in 2002 in the UCL final he came on and basically won us the match with a number of incredible saves.

His weakness though is he is not as strong in commanding his area as the likes of Khan and Buffon but his reflexes are some of the best I have seen in football and his performances in losing games such as Liverpool 5-0 and Barcelona 2-6 are some of the best keeping performances you will see despite the score line.

I do believe Casillas is highly underrated, but at the end of the day you can't change people's opinions.....

Crimson wrote:Is yet to concede a goal in any final he has played in (Not including one off cup games)
Two Champions League finals (2000, 2002), 0 goals conceded
Euro 2008 Final v Germany, 0 goals conceded
2010 World Cup Final v Holland, 0 goals conceded
2010 Copa del Rey Final v Barcelona, 0 Goals conceded

In both of Spain's Euro and World Cup wins Casillas did not concede a single goal outside of the group stages

68 clean sheets for Spain in 125 games, leading Spain and International records

582 games for Real Madrid, 6th highest in Real Madrid history.
Is also Real Madrid's most capped goalkeeper of all time.

Only 3rd ever goalkeeper/captain to lead his team to a World Cup, following greats Combi and Zoff.

Only goalkeeper/captain to lead his team to both the Euro's and World Cup titles and only goalkeeper/captain to lead his team to a Euro win

Holds the record for least amount of goals conceded by a winning team at a World Cup (with both Buffon and Barthez)

Has won 14 titles in 12 years since his professional debut

Has made the UEFA Team of the Year on 4 separate occasions: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
The FIFA/FIFPro World's best goalkeeper on 3 separate occasions: 2008, 2009, 2010
The FIFA World IX on 3 separate occasions: 2008, 2009, 2010

As well as the World Cup 2010 Golden Gloves and All Star Team; The Zamora Trophy in 2007-2008; and the FIFA.com team of the year in 2008

Holds the Spanish record with Reina for longest time without conceding a goal at International level: 710 minutes

Has 8 clean sheets in the World Cup Finals, only 2 more to equal the current record and 3 more to beat it, considering he is only 30 he should still be Spain's first choice come 2014

Has a current streak of 411 minutes (still going) without conceding a goal in a World Cup Finals. The current record is 517 minutes, so Casillas has a chance again to break this in 2014.

One of his saves during the quarterfinals versus South Korea during the 2002 FIFA World Cup was rated by FIFA as one of the top 10 saves of all time

The most capped player in Spanish history with 127 international appearances

Agreed with everything.......

Your spot on with you cant change people's opinions thing, believe me i have tried many times

Dont know if Casillas is underrated in general but he probably is on this forum.

CBarca wrote:I disagree with you JD, i think most of the time he makes fantastic decision. It takes balls to even make those decisions sometimes. When you make decisions like that, occasionally you'll screw up, but he saves us so much more by that it's irrelevent. If you don't make those decisions you never screw up, but you'll be scored on more so

You do have a point. It's a debatable matter and depends on what perspective we are looking at it from.