Iker Casillas received the Grand Cross of the Order of Sporting Merit

USPA NEWS - The captain of the Spanish National Soccer Team, now goalkeeper Porto and former Real Madrid goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, received Tuesday by the president of the Spanish Government, Mariano Rajoy, the Grand Cross of the Order of Sporting Merit, a decoration that was approved on July 17.

The Prime Minister explained that Iker Casillas comes this award both for its sporting merits as personal values. In his speech, Rajoy stressed the impeccable sporting career of Iker Casillas, both Real Madrid and the Spanish National Soccer Team. According to Rajoy, "it is one of the most successful and most beloved in the history of Spanish sport athletes." Currently playing for Porto, but her "life has always been linked to Real Madrid and the Spanish team," he added the Prime Minister. In this regard, he recalled that Casillas has played more than 900 matches as a professional footballer and has defended the shirt of the Spanish team in more than 160 occasions.

But Rajoy added, Casillas, "besides being a great athlete, he is a very committed person to social causes." In this regard, he recalled that he was appointed in 2011 Goodwill Ambassador of the UN and that it has also created the Iker Casillas Foundation, "a non-profit organization to support and contribute to the welfare of those most in need." The current Porto goalkeeper has also collaborated with other social organizations such as the Real Madrid Foundation and the Foundation Thyme and participated in campaigns to collect food, anti bullying or insertion of young people at risk of social exclusion.