Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas has revealed he will retire at the same time as his Italian counterpart Gianluigi Buffon.
Casillas, who is part of Spanish squad looking to win their third consecutive European Championship, said he will follow the 38-year-old Juventus goalkeeper’s lead, despite being three years his junior. At which point, Casillas says, the pair will mark the decision to bow out with a match between “friends”.
The pair have long been considered two of Europe’s finest shot-stoppers, but with a new generation of stars between the sticks emerging, it remains to be seen how long Buffon and Casillas will continue.
“When he retires, I will too,” Casillas told La Gazetta dello Sport.
“He just signed a new deal and that makes me happy because that means I will too.
“When we call it quits we’ll set up a nice match between my friends and his friends.”
Buffon extended his contract with Juventus to 2018, when it is thought he will hope to represent Italy in the World Cup, before hanging up his gloves.
Casillas, who is three years younger than Buffon, has been with Porto since 2015 having spent his entire career with Real Madrid up until that point.
While Buffon is still assured of his place in Italy’s starting lineup, Casillas is faces strong competition from Manchester United’s David De Gea, who is expected to get the nod from Vicente del Bosque for Spain’s opener against the Czech Republic on on Monday.
Group D is completed by Turkey and Croatia, while Italy face an equally, if not more competitive opening stage of the competition as they’re joined in Group E by Belgium, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland.
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