Football Player's Biography 7: Santiago Cañizares

Full name	José Santiago Cañizares Ruiz
Date of birth	18 December 1969 (1969-12-18) (age 41)
Place of birth	Puertollano, Spain
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper

José Santiago Cañizares Ruiz (born 18 December 1969) is a retired Spanish footballer, who played as a goalkeeper.
After playing with Real Madrid, mostly as a backup, he finished his career at Valencia CF, where he appeared in more than 400 official games since 1998.^[1]^[2]
In his prime, he was regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Prior to Euro 2004 - he represented the Spanish national team in three FIFA World Cups and as many UEFA European Football Championships - legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel said that he regarded Cañizares as the finest goalkeeper in world football

Club career

Born in Puertollano, Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Cañizares started his club career with Real Madrid in 1988, playing initially with its B team. He started professionally with Elche CF, CP Mérida and Celta de Vigo, making his first top flight appearance with the Galicians in 1992–93, missing only two matches from 1992–94 combined and subsequently returning to Real Madrid.
Unable to cement a starting place, his best output being 26 matches during 1997–98 (but he lost his place in the final part of the year to Bodo Illgner, thus missing the 1998 Champions League final), Cañizares moved to Valencia CF in 1998 to replace the retired Andoni Zubizarreta. He helped the club to win the Spanish Cup and Supercup finals in 1999, also reaching consecutive UEFA Champions League finals (2000 and 2001) and winning La Liga titles in 2002 and 2004, adding the UEFA Cup and Supercup 2004 finals. Following the latter campaign, he renewed his link to the Che for a further two years.^[4]
In December 2007, Cañizares, alongside teammates Miguel Ángel Angulo and David Albelda, was axed by new manager Ronald Koeman,^[5] with all three players limited to training, and unable to join another side in Spain, having already played four league matches. In late April, however, with Koeman's sacking, all three were reinstated by new manager Voro in a squad seriously threatened with relegation, with five remaining rounds. On April 27, 2008, Cañizares returned to action, as Timo Hildebrand and Juan Luis Mora were injured, in a 3–0 home win against CA Osasuna.
On 16 May 2008, Cañizares agreed to end his contract with Valencia and leave the club. He played his final game with the side two days later, against Atlético Madrid (3–1), and was released the next day, retiring shortly after, at almost 39 years, having appeared in exactly 500 league matches - both major levels combined - during exactly two decades.

International career

Cañizares was capped 46 times for Spain, the first in 17 November 1993. Zubizarreta was sent off in the tenth minute of a decisive 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier (Spain-Denmark, 1–0) and Cañizares made his debut in heroic fashion, keeping a clean sheet and ensuring qualification at the expense of the Danes themselves.^[6]
However, he was often the second-choice keeper, and only played five matches in the major international scene: one in the 1994 World Cup (as Zubi served a one-match ban), three in UEFA Euro 2000 and one in the 2006 World Cup. He was also a squad member at Euro 1996, the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2004 but didn't play, blocked by Zubizarreta in the 1990s and Iker Casillas in 2004. He was equally an unused player in the gold winning squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Cañizares' club form ensured himself as first-choice international in the 2002 World Cup, but he missed out on the tournament due to an accident with an aftershave bottle, which resulted in a severed tendon in his foot.^[7]