MADRID, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Former Spain international goalkeeper Iker Casillas has played his 1,000th game as a professional footballer on Monday.
The 36-year-old, who spent most of his career with Real Madrid before joining Porto in 2015, passed the 1000th game landmark as he played for Porto against Os Belenenses in the 28th round of Portuguese league.
Sadly, Casillas wasn't able to celebrate the landmark with a win as his side lost 2-0, but that should not detract him from a top-flight career which he began as an 18-year-old in a 2-2 draw away to Athletic Bilbao in 1999 and saw him make 725 appearances for Real Madrid, along with 108 for Porto and a record breaking 167 for the Spanish national team.
During his 16 years with Real Madrid's first team (he also played for their C and B teams), Casillas had won five domestic league titles, three Champions Leagues and three King's Cups, while he was a key part in the 2008 and 2018 European Championships won by Spain and their historic 2010 World Cup triumph.
His poor relationship with club president, Florentino Perez saw him leave Madrid in 2015 to continue his career in Portugal, but at the age of 36 he should be able to continue playing for at least another two or three seasons.
He will need to continue playing for much longer if he wants to break the all-time appearance record which is held by English goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who had remained active until the age of 47 and eventually hung up his gloves after 1,377 appearances.
