Another central defender in Real Madrid's starting lineup was Ricardo Carvalho.
Carvalho was born in a magical year, 1978. In this year, many superstars were born in the football world. Not to mention other positions, just talking about the position of central defender, there are five world-class central defenders who were born in 1978.
Carvalho, Ferdinand, Lucio, Puyol, Samuel.
Compared with the other four, Carvalho has the lowest presence, but at the same time he has the best physical condition and positioning ability.
If we sort by presence, there is another central defender who can also make the list in 1978, that is Liverpool's current central defender Carragher.
Although Carragher has had his glorious and peak moments, if we talk about ability alone, Carragher is just famous, but in fact he is not even among the top five central defenders in the world born in 1978.
Carvalho once created an unbeatable record of playing as the main central defender and winning the championship in one season while conceding only 15 goals.
As a Portuguese, Carvalho started in the Porto youth training camp, but Carvalho did not show any special advantages at the beginning. After graduating from the youth training camp, Carvalho was loaned out by Porto in various ways.
Until Carvalho met the benefactor of his life - his mentor Mourinho.
After Mourinho took over as coach of Porto, he quickly discovered and activated Carvalho's abilities, and Carvalho also officially came to his senses. As a central defender with excellent physical conditions, Carvalho's heading and positioning skills are first-class. He is a typical defender who "plays football with his brain." Carvalho does not have the advantages of strong body and height, but he can always take the lead and accurately position himself by predicting the ball's path, thus avoiding danger.
Carvalho also possesses the delicate skills unique to Portuguese players and appears to be very familiar with defense.
Carvalho had such great respect for Mourinho that when Mourinho left Porto for Chelsea, Carvalho followed without hesitation.
Carvalho spent the peak of his career at Chelsea. The iron defense formed by him and Terry, who slept with his best friend's wife, was the most powerful central defender combination in the world at that time. Coupled with Mourinho's defensive counterattack tactics, Carvalho conceded only 15 goals in 38 games and kept 25 clean sheets - such a record has not yet been achieved by any central defender combination of any team in the top Premier League.
Later, Mourinho came to Real Madrid, and the first transfer contract he signed was that of Carvalho.
Carvalho was also very excited when he followed Mourinho to Real Madrid at a high price. Not only did Carvalho rely on his personal reputation in football to help Mourinho get the big-name Real Madrid locker room, he also directly stated in a media interview that he would always be loyal to Mourinho and was willing to follow Mourinho to the ends of the earth.
However... in the later period of Mourinho's coaching of Real Madrid, due to Mourinho's own quick temper and the fact that Carvalho was going through a low period at the time, he was abandoned by Mourinho for a period of time. Therefore, Carvalho became a staunch anti-Mourinho faction in Real Madrid, which indirectly accelerated Mourinho's departure from Real Madrid.
The master and disciple, who were once as close as father and son, have now completely fallen out.
Of course, the two reconciled in the future.
Today's game is also a showdown between Mourinho and his other "son" with whom he is falling out. Real Madrid fans want to see how Carvalho, as the backcourt defender, can shut out the team led by his former mentor, while Liverpool fans who have come from afar want to see with their own eyes how Mourinho's new disciple Gu Ran defeats Mourinho's former senior disciple Carvalho.
Finally, Real Madrid's starting goalkeeper is Saint Casillas - Igor Casillas Fernandez.
It is no exaggeration to say that Casillas is the best goalkeeper of this era, no doubt about it.
Compared with the "youngster" Buffon in Serie A, Casillas did not have as long a career as Buffon, but no goalkeeper of the same period could compare with Casillas' peak achievements.
Casillas is also the only player to have achieved the Grand Slam in football.
Casillas has won all the championships that a La Liga/Portuguese League goalkeeper can get in the football world, including but not limited to the World Cup champion, the World Cup Yashin Bonus Glove, the Champions League champion, the Champions League Golden Glove, the Europa League champion, the Europa League Golden Glove, the La Liga champion, the La Liga Golden Glove, the Portuguese League champion, the Portuguese League Golden Glove, the European Super Cup champion, the La Liga Super Cup champion, the Portuguese League Super Cup champion, the Club World Cup champion, the La Liga Best Goalkeeper, the Portuguese League Best Goalkeeper, the IFFHS World Best Goalkeeper of the Year, the FIFA Team of the Year, the World Cup Best Team, the Zamora Award, the Bravo Award...
If goalkeepers can also compete for the Ballon d'Or, then Casillas will definitely win it.
Casillas's saves in the penalty area are nothing short of magical, his saves are stretched and handsome, and because he is not very tall among goalkeepers, many of his saves seem impossible to complete. The process is thrilling, exciting, and adrenaline-pumping, so the football he saves is more valuable than many Golden Ball-level shots.
Casillas' biggest advantage is his reaction speed in front of the goal.
Casillas seems to have a plug-in for time to return to defense. He can accurately predict all kinds of tricky and fast ball paths, especially in his peak period. Casillas is honored as Saint Igor by Real Madrid fans, and domestic fans habitually call him Saint Casillas. This nickname is by no means a deliberate exaggeration, because Casillas can really flash with holy light in his peak period.
More importantly, Casillas has a handsome appearance, and this advantage has attracted countless girls who have never watched football to become loyal fans.
Casillas' career is simply a real-life scenario of a cool male protagonist. He reached the peak as soon as he debuted and enjoyed himself all the way to the end! In 2000, Casillas, who was only 19 and a half years old, made his first substitute appearance in the Champions League final. Facing the fierce attack of Bayer Leverkusen, Casillas, who was not tall, not strong enough, and had no experience in major competitions, was not afraid. He made continuous super saves to shut out the opponent, turning all the efforts of Bayer Leverkusen into nothingness and saving the Champions League title for Real Madrid!
If Beckham is a model of becoming famous with one goal, then Casillas is a model of becoming famous with zero goals! Casillas was born for big occasions.
…
(End of this chapter)