This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams. This blog was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team here. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017. His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. He also copied many many of my blog entries.
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index
Real Madrid
Real Madrid All-Time Team Under Florentina Perez
Real Madrid All-Time Team Under Miguel Munoz
Real Madrid Argentine Best XI
Real Madrid Castilla Greatest All-Time
Real Madrid All-Time Team for Spanish Players
Atletico Madrid All-Time Team for Foreign Players
Real Madrid All-Time Team Under Florentina Perez
Real Madrid All-Time Team Under Miguel Munoz
Real Madrid Argentine Best XI
Real Madrid Castilla Greatest All-Time
Real Madrid All-Time Team for Spanish Players
Atletico Madrid All-Time Team for Foreign Players
Real Madrid is the most successful club in soccer's history. They have won more titles in Europe than any other clubs. Of course, their players were among the greatest of all-time. This post is about my Top 10 ranking of greatest goalkeeper in Real Madrid's history. But every fan has their favourites and opinions. The ranking is extremely subjective. Some player played in multi-positions. Sometimes, people would even argue about the position of each player considered. For this goalkeeper blog, I do not have this issue.
1st: Iker Casillas (Spain)
Iker Casillas is Spain's most decorated goalkeeper and widely considered to be one of the greatest ever goalkeepers. He spent 16 seasons with Real Madrid and won three Champions' League with Real Madrid. For Spain, he captained Spain into winning the World Cup in 2010 and two European Championships in 2008 and 2012. He is capped over 150 times between 2000 and 2016, appearing in every major tournaments in that period. He also played for Porto at the end of his career.
Iker Casillas is Spain's most decorated goalkeeper and widely considered to be one of the greatest ever goalkeepers. He spent 16 seasons with Real Madrid and won three Champions' League with Real Madrid. For Spain, he captained Spain into winning the World Cup in 2010 and two European Championships in 2008 and 2012. He is capped over 150 times between 2000 and 2016, appearing in every major tournaments in that period. He also played for Porto at the end of his career.
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| Iker Casillas |
The first ever star goalkeeper in history. He is also remembered for a spectacular last minute save he made in the 1936 Copa de España final while playing for Real Madrid against FC Barcelona. The award for the best goalkeeper in La Liga, the Ricardo Zamora Trophy, is named in his honour and he was voted one of the greatest players of the 20th century by World Soccer magazine. He was also Spain's most capped player for 45 years.
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| Ricardo Zamora |
Franisco Buyo at the time of his retirement was the third highest keeper in La Liga appearance record. He spent over a decade with Real Madrid (1986-1997), winning 13 titles with them. Before Real Madrid, he played for Mallorca, Deportive La Coruna and Seville. He earned 7 caps for Spain between 1983 and 1992. He went to the European Championship of 1984 and 1988 as a backup.
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| Franisco Buyo |
4th: Miguel Angel (Spain)
Miguel Ángel was born in Ourense, Galicia. During his career, after making his beginnings at handball, he played for AD Couto (later renamed Atlético Orense), CD Castellón and Real Madrid, having an 18-year spell with the latter club and being first choice from 1974 to 1978 and in two of his final three seasons; he conquered six La Liga championships, being an active part in four of those. He had 18 caps. He was in the squad for the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups.
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| Miguel Ángel |
Born
in Madrid, Garcia Remón was best known for his spells with Real Madrid.
He then began an interesting battle for first-choice status with Miguel
Ángel González which would last for the vast majority of his stay in
Madrid. Remón would start from 1971 to 1973 and 1979 to 1981. At the
international level, he earned two caps for Spain.
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| Garcia Remón |
Thibaut Courtois joined Chelsea from Genk in 2011, but he was sent away to Atletico Madrid immediately. He won the Europa League in his first season and then, a Copa del Rey in his second season. In his final season, Atletico Madrid reached the Final of the Champions' League, but lost to Real Madrid. He was the starting keeper for Belgium at World Cup 2014 and 2018, and Euro 2016.
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| Thibaut Courtois |
Juan Alonso was part of their European Cup victories in 1956, 1957 and 1958. He earned 2 caps for the Spain national football team. Alonso won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy during the 1954–55 season. At the end of his career he played a few matches for Real Madrid's second team, which then played under the name AD Plus Ultra in the second division.
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| Juan Alonso |
After starting out at Saprissa he moved to Albacete, and then to Levante in La Liga. After a great performance With Levante, he won the La Liga Keeper of the Year award for 2014 with Levante. Then, he led Costa Rica to the quarter-final of the WC in Brazil. After the WC Finals, he earned a transfer to Real Madrid. With Real Madrid, he won 3 Champions League titles as their starting keeper.
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| Keylor Navas |
9th: Antonio Betancort (Spain)
Antonio Betancourt played as a goalkeeper for Las Palmas before moving to Real Madrid in 1961. With Real Madrid, he had two spells with a more lengthy spell between 1963 and 1971. In between, he played for Deportivo La Coruña. He was also capped by the Spanish national team. He went to the 1966 World Cup Finals in England as a backup to José Ángel Iribar.
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| Antonio Betancourt |
10th: Rogelio Dominguez (Argentina)
Rogelio Dominguez
played around the same time as Antonio Carrizo. He earned 59 caps for Argentina. He missed
the 1958 World Cup Finals because he moved to Real Madrid in 1957, and
Argentina did not select overseas-based players. He was on Argentina's 1962
World Cup team. With Real Madrid, he won two European Cups playing alongside Alfredo Di Stefano. Before Real
Madrid, he played for Racing Club in Argentina.
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| Rogelio Dominguez |
Honorable Mention
Bodo Illgner José Bañón, José Vicente, Diego Lopez, José Araquistáin, Santiago Cañizares, César Sánchez, Agustín.
Ranking Explanation
-- The criteria is mainly based upon their performance for Real Madrid, but I do not have a formula for ranking.
-- Iker Casillas definitely suppressed Ricardo Zamora as Real Madrid's greatest ever goalkeepers. A big part of Zamora's greatness came during his stint with Barcelona. For Real Madrid, Iker Casillas was more iconic. He won three Champions' League with Real Madrid.
-- Francisco Buyo, Garcia Ramon and Miguel Angel were almost the same. Franisco Buyo was undisputed starter for a longer time.
-- Garcia Ramon had a rivalry with Miguel Angel for their duration of their careers in Madrid, and Miguel Angel spent 18 years while Remon lasted 15 years. On this blog of mine, Remon is ahead of Miguel Angel because that blog is about Real Madrid under Miguel Munoz. He spent longer time with manager Miguel Munoz. For this blog, it is about the entire history of Real Madrid. Rogelio Dominguez also was ranked higher over there because of what he did for Miguel Munoz.
-- Thibaut Courtois was unranked when I created this in 2021, but I elevated him to the 6th position after he won the Champions' League Final in 2022. His individual performance against Liverpool in the Final was probably the best ever for a Real Madrid goalkeeper in a EC/CL Final. At the time of writing, he already played more games for Real Madrid than Keylor Navas. So it was obvious to rank him ahead of Navas. In time, he might go higher. Francisco Buyo, Miguel Angel and Garcia Remon did not have the same international reputation as Courtois, but they were long time servant to the club. Iker needs no introduction while Ricardo Zamora was the club's first star player.
-- I might have overrated or underrated Keylor Navas, but he had three straight Champions' League titles. Juan Alonso also won three European Cups. I ranked him ahead of Navas, but I do not believe a single spot the between the two really mattered.
-- Agustin was an understudy of both Miguel Ángel and García Remón. Basically, I selected him because he played with the ‘Quinta del Buitre’ (the ‘Vulture Squadron’). He is the biggest question mark on the list. I was deciding between him and José Vicente Train.
-- Rogelio Dominguez played in the same time as Amadeo Carrizo. Dominguez actually played more than Carrizo for the Argentine national team. He had 58 caps between 1951 and 1963, while Carrizo only had 20 caps between 1954 and 1964.
-- I also rewarded Juan Alonso and Rogelio Dominguez for European glories.
-- I didn't really know how to rank Bodo Illgner against others. I previously rewarded him with the 10th place for bringing the Champions League home after 32 years, but he dropped off the list after Thibaut Courtois's epic Champions' League in 2022.
-- Diego Lopez played better than Iker Casillas in his time with Real Madrid. He did send Casillas to the bench. But I only put him on honorable mention. His career here was short.
-- Jerzy Dudek was a popular player within the locker room. He was known as the unsung hero of the club even through he only played a few games in Madrid. However, I cannot put him on honorable mention because he was more of a "cheerleader".
-- The list consisted two goalkeepers who won a World Cup for their country respectively. Iker Casillas captained Spain as they won the World Cup in 2010. Bodo Illgner won the World Cup for West Germany in 1990. He was not a member of Real Madrid at the time.
-- Santiago Cañizares lost his place to Bodo Illgner around the mid-1990's. He was never a full time starter here. In 1998, he moved to Valencia and achieved legendary status with them.
-- César Sánchez started as a backup for wonderkid Iker Casillas. He eventually became first-choice in the 2001-2002 season after a loss of form by Casillas. He even started in the Champions League Final that year, but was substituted by Casillas after suffering an injury. Casillas went on to won the MOTM in that final.
-- Agustín would be my 11th at the time of writing. He played in the same time as García Remón, Miguel Ángel, José Manuel Ochotorena and Francisco Buyo. He appeared in the 1985-1986 UEFA Cup Final after José Manuel Ochotorena was injured.
-- José Manuel Ochotorena was only the main starter for a single season, where he was injured and missed the UEFA Cup Final.
-- In time, we will see how we rank Thibaut Courtois. As of 2021, his team has not achieved as much as the others in question. He definitely would be 11th or higher. The others have all spent longer time here and contributed more to Real Madrid's victories.
-- Julio Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world and one of the top record sellers in music history, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide in 14 languages. He was a goalkeeper for Real Madrid Castilla in the Segunda División before an automobile accident ended his career in 1963.
-- I am not familiar with José Bañón.
Thibaut Courtois should be way ahead of Agustín. I’m surprised neither Santiago Cañizares nor César Sánchez got an honorable mention
ReplyDeleteThibaut Courtois needs more time. Santiago Cañizares nor César Sánchez should get an honorable mention
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