Iker Casillas revealed regrets about how he said goodbye to Real, as he promised to return eventually

The great Spanish goalkeeper played his last match for Madrid five years ago this weekend, leaving the club to join Porto.

I needed to feel something else again

Iker Casillas revealed regrets about how he said goodbye to Real, as he promised to return eventually. The great Spanish goalkeeper played his last match for Madrid five years ago this weekend, leaving the club to join Porto. He retired at the age of 34 after a 16-year career in the first team at Santiago Bernabeu, but to this day, Casillas regrets the solitary nature of his exit. “I rarely spoke about my departure from Real Madrid,” Casillas wrote on Instagram. “I gave a press conference alone, a mistake, and I left. Five years have passed since then — 5 years since I crossed the border that brought me to our neighbouring country: Portugal. “I needed to feel something else again. Having a new environment, refusing to be so criticized, and a desire to improve.

Iker intends to run for the next election to decide the president of the RFEF

“Therefore, friends, all players want to improve. And for this, you have to improve the physical and mental side. The latter was important. At Porto, I felt it again. Let them not tell you other things.” Casillas published his message in the early hours of Sunday, accompanied by a photograph of himself from his final match for Madrid, a 7-3 victory against Getafe on May 23, 2015. In his message, he added: “I already knew that it would be my last game. Last match. Casillas said in February that he intends to run for the next election to decide the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

In May last year at a training session with Porto, he suffered a heart attack and has since resigned as a player. During his career, he played for the Spanish national team 167 times and participated in the 2010 World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 European Championships. With Madrid, his honours included five La Liga titles and three successes in the Champions League. Casillas became the youngest player to play in the Champions League final – and subsequently to win the trophy – because in the 1999-2000 season at the age of only 19 years and four days, he distinguished himself in the victory of Real Madrid over a fellow countryman from the Spanish club Valencia. He also helped Real Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 before completing the trio 12 years later, as they defeated city rivals Atletico Madrid.