Real Madrid and Spain legend Iker Casillas has announced that he is gay, which would make him one of the most high-profile male footballers in history to confirm their homosexuality.
In a tweet published on Sunday afternoon, October 9, the ex-goalkeeper said: “I hope you respect me: I’m gay.”
Espero que me respeten: soy gay. #felizdomingo
— Iker Casillas (@IkerCasillas) October 9, 2022
Casillas was married to sports journalist Sara Carbonero for five years before their separation in March 2021, having had two children together, both boys.
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The 41-year-old received a wave of support following the Twitter post, including from Barcelona icon and his former Spain teammate, Carles Puyol.
Casillas, who retired in 2020 after suffering a cardiac arrest during training with his final club Porto, is remembered for being one of football’s most successful goalkeepers.
The Spanish great won one World Cup, two European Championships, five La Liga titles, and three Champions Leagues in a distinguished senior career that spanned 22 years.
Spending a total of 25 years with Real Madrid, whom he joined at the age of nine, the Los Blancos hero lifted a whopping 19 trophies, while also captaining the team from 2010 until his departure in 2015.
Between 2004 and 2008, Casillas dated the winner of a beauty pageant, Eva Gonzalez. Soon after their split, Casillas began dating Carbonero.
The shot-stopper famously kissed the reporter following Spain’s triumph at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when La Roja famously beat the Netherlands in the final thanks to Andres Iniesta’s extra-time winner.
Their first son, Martin, now eight, was born in Madrid on January 3, 2014. In November of the following year, the couple announced that they were expecting their second child.
Three months before Lucas, now six arrived on June 2, 2016, Casillas and Carbonero married.
Their official partnership would last for five years until last March when their separation was announced.
