Casillas Has The Birthday Blues

Iker Casillas has said he has not had a “great birthday” as he recovers from the heart attack which could end his career.

The former Real Madrid goalkeeper turned 38 yesterday and posted to social media with a moving message as he recovers from the heart attack which experts think may end his career.

He posted a photo of him smiling with balloons showing his age and wrote: “It hasn’t been a great birthday. At least I didn’t pay it the attention that I should have! Even then, I posed and put on this face. A happy face now that I have been here for 20 days! 37 has gone…finally! Welcome 38! P.S.: Thanks for your congratulatory messages.”

Casillas suffered the heart attack in training with Porto 20 days ago, on 1st May.

The Spanish goalkeeper has reportedly been fitted with a coronary stent and experts have suggested his career could be over.

Leading Spanish cardiologist Juan Antonio Corbalan, who played professional basketball for Real Madrid, said: “You cannot play football with coronary stenting, least of all as a goalkeeper. Iker will end up leading a normal life but he will not play professional sport.”

A coronary stent is a tube-shaped device placed in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart, to keep the arteries open in the treatment of coronary heart disease.