Spain’s win over Haiti in Miami on Saturday not only marked the return of Iker Casillas 136 days after he last took to the field in a starting line up, but also saw the 32-year-old keeper become the most capped stopper in the world.
The World Cup winner made his 144th appearance for Spain, moving him one ahead of Thomas Ravelli, who made 143 appearances in goal for Sweden.
Ravelli, who spent most of his playing days at Oster and IFK Gotenburg, featured for his national side in the 1990 World Cup, Euro 92, and the 1994 World Cup in the USA, where he helped his side finish third in the tournament.
Casillas made his senior international debut on 3 June 2000 against Sweden, just two weeks after his 19th birthday. He was initially an undertstudy to Santiago Canizares at the World Cup in 2002 but when the Valencia keeper suffered an injury and had to withdraw, he became Spain’s number one.
He has since helped his national side win its first ever World Cup, against Holland in South Africa 2010, and two European Championships, in 2008 and 2012.
San Iker, as his if fondly know in Spain, features 16th in the list of most capped footballers of all time, but has some way to go to overtake Ahmed Hassan, who played 184 times for Eygpt.
