Euro 2012: Why Iker Casillas Was the Player of the Tournament for Spain

The celebrations have started for Spain in winning its third UEFA Euro tournament in history (1964, 2008 and 2012) as well as the 2010 FIFA World Cup. While the press (including FOX News Latino) gives credit to Fernando Torres, Juan Mata, David Silva and Jordi Alba, someone deserves more credit.

Iker Casillas is the main player of the Euro 2012 tournament for Spain for many reasons. The time has come to discuss the important ones.

Euro 2012 Final

According to an article published in FOX News Latino, Casillas was able to deflect an attempt by Antonio Di Natale to score. He also deflected two other attempts by the Italians to score by pushing the ball upward and far from the goal post.

Casillas was at the goal post, viewing all of the possible angles, and kept deflecting the ball when it was so close to him. The battle for Euro 2012 would have been different if Casillas was not vigilant.

Unity for Spain

Casillas was able to unite the Spanish players for FC Barcelona and Real Madrid into one team. Xavi Hernandez of FC Barcelona (according to an article in ESPN Soccernet) criticized Real Madrid for anti sports like conduct. The criticisms occurred before the start of Euro 2012  

According to an article published in The Telegraph, Hernandez and Carles Puyol (of FC Barcelona) did not get along with Real Madrid. Iker CasIllas sat down with both of them to resolve any personality conflicts between them and the clubs before Euro 2012.

The result was an easing of tensions between the two clubs. It helped Spain achieve what was needed to win a third consecutive title.

Casillas's Accomplishments

What made Casillas into the player of Euro 2012 were his accomplishments on a professional and personal basis.

According to an article written by Charlie Scott for Goal, Casillas is the player for the Euro 2012 tournament because of not conceding goals. The only exception was when Di Natale scored for Italy in their first encounter in the beginning of Euro 2012.

Casillas was able to maintain a record of not allowing goals for more than 419 minutes, according to Goal.  He has won more than 100 international matches for Spain after the latest victory over Italy.

According to ESPN Soccernet, Luis Aragones, who was once coach for Spain, praised Casillas as a captain and player in the year 2008. According to the Real Madrid website, Casillas is the recipient of the Adidas Golden Glove Award and the Bravo Trophy.

The Real Madrid website goes on to report about Casillas being named Best Goalkeeper of the Year by FIFA, UEFA, L'Equipe and IFFHS. Casillas also admits that his career is based on being down to earth.

Conclusion

What more can be said about Casillas and Spain is that they are part of world football history for their accomplishments in Euro 2008, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2012. It remains to be seen whether they can continue the string of victories in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

At the present time, the only thing to say is Viva Espana or Long Live Spain.