The Real Madrid goalkeeper was the star of the Champions League final last season. The number 1 of the Red Devils kept a clean sheet against Liverpool with an unlikely series of saves, so that the Royal had enough with a goal from Vinicius to bring the cup with the big ears to the Spanish capital for the fourteenth time. Courtois also crowned himself champion with Real. Last season, he recorded 22 clean sheets in 52 games.
“First of all I would like to thank my teammates from Real Madrid, I am proud to be part of this team. We’ve had an incredible season,” Courtois said. “I thank my fiancé, my family and my children. It’s always easy when things are going well, but it’s harder when things aren’t going well. They are the first to help you.” Courtois also spoke about the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. “Unfortunately we lost to France at the 2018 World Cup. We hope to do better this year. We have a great team with Kevin (De Bruyne), Eden (Hazard) and Romelu (Lukaku), we can do great things.”
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no stage
Last year Courtois had to leave the Yashin trophy to Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Italian did not make the shortlist this time. Courtois is the first Belgian on the honors list of the prize awarded since 2019. Like fellow Red Devil Kevin De Bruyne, Courtois was among the thirty nominees for the Ballon d’Or, football magazine France Football’s award for the best football player in the world. Courtois finished in seventh place in that referendum.
“My position is still somewhat underestimated,” Courtois told AFP. “When voting, the goalkeepers are often forgotten. Goals and assists count more than hitting balls. But it’s not a big deal. In the future it will be even more difficult to win the trophy, with all those aliens like Haaland and Mbappe coming,” he said with a laugh.
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But the Red Devil still had something to say. “For a goalkeeper it is impossible to win this prize. I don’t know what more you can do as a goalkeeper than what I did last year. I won La Liga and the Champions League, but I don’t even make the podium here.”
Iker Casillas had seen that too. The Real icon was therefore quite ferocious. “I am very happy for Thibaut Courtois! He is voted the best goalkeeper in the world by a big margin. However, what I am not happy about is that he is not on the podium of the Ballon d’Or. I still don’t understand what the people who vote for this award are basing themselves on.”
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Casillas was also cynical about Real Madrid’s third place in the Club of the Year vote. That award went surprisingly to Manchester City. Real player Toni Kroos also could not believe that De Koninklijke did not win that award.
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