Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas suffered a heart attack while training, the confirmed Wednesday.
The 37-year-old was taken to the hospital and is now in stable condition. The club told Portuguese news channel TVI24 that Casillas underwent surgery for an acute myocardial infarction and is not expected to return for Porto in the Primeira Liga this season.
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Casillas began his soccer career in Real Madrid’s youth system in 1990 and was promoted to the senior team in 1999. He remained with the club for 16 seasons until departing in 2015 to join Porto. While making 725 appearances for Real Madrid–the second most in club history–Casillas won five La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey titles, four Supercopa de Espana titles, three UEFA Champions League titles, among other accomplishments. He also won the World Cup with Spain in 2010.
Real Madrid released a statement of support for its former captain, saying: “Iker Casillas has taught us throughout his professional career to overcome the most incredible challenges to enhance the glory of our club. It has taught us that giving up does not fit into our philosophy of life and has shown us countless times that being stronger the harder the challenge is, the way to achieve victory. Real Madrid CF and Real Madrid want to see their eternal captain recovered as soon as possible and send him all the courage of the world.”
Sergio Ramos, a longtime Spain and Real Madrid teammate of Casillas, was among the first to publicly react to the news, with support pouring in from all around the soccer world soon after.
(SIsamuel )
