Casillas eyes bowing out at next World Cup

05 December 2012 18:16

Several of Spain's golden generation of footballers will bring down the curtain on their international careers after the 2014 World Cup, veteran goalkeeper Iker Casillas said on Wednesday.

Casillas, 31, winner of the World Cup and two European Championships, added it would be time for the younger generation to take up the baton.

"A lot of us will retire from the national side after the World Cup," said Casillas. "The younger generation will replace us. It is why winning the World Cup again would be a wonderful way to bow out."

Casillas, though, said he had every intention of playing on with Real Madrid until his present contract finishes in 2017.

"I will play for as long as my head tells me to," he said. "At the end of the day the wear and tear is more to do with the head than the body.

"For the moment my plan is to go to the end of my contract."

Casillas, who is approaching the 150 caps mark having made his debut in 2000, said that if he were to play for another club it would not be in Spain.

"Play anywhere other than Real? For the moment I am not even thinking about it," said Casillas, who made his Real debut in 1999.

"It is my club and my home from home, and if in the future, I do move, it will be outside Spain and to a club which is not directly in competition with Real."

Source: AFP