Keylor Navas

Keilor Antonio "Keylor" Navas Gamboa (; born 15 December 1986) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Argentine Primera División club Newell's Old Boys and the Costa Rica national team. He is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and among the great Costa Rican players of all time.

Navas started his youth career at Saprissa in his home country, where he won six Liga FPD titles. He subsequently moved to Spanish club Albacete in 2010, and then to Levante in La Liga the following year, where he won the LFP Award for Best Goalkeeper in his final season with the latter club. Navas later joined Real Madrid in 2014 for €10 million, where he won a total of twelve titles, including one La Liga and three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles as the first choice goalkeeper. In 2019, he was signed by French club Paris Saint-Germain, and would play in his fourth Champions League final in his first season with the side.

Navas has made over 110 appearances for Costa Rica since debuting in 2008. He has represented the country at three CONCACAF Gold Cups and the 2014, 2018, and 2022 editions of the FIFA World Cup. He was a Costa Rica national team member who reached the semi-finals of the 2009 Gold Cup, in which he was named best goalkeeper. His impressive performances also helped the team reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time in 2014.

Navas was awarded CONCACAF Men's Goalkeeper of the Year for three consecutive years between 2016 and 2018. He was also named the best male CONCACAF Player of the Decade by the IFFHS. His performances in the 2017–18 season earned him the 2017–18 UEFA Club Football Award for best UEFA goalkeeper, and also saw him named in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season of 2018.

Club career

Saprissa

Born in San Isidro de El General, Navas made his professional debut with Deportivo Saprissa on 6 November 2005, in a Primera league match against Asociación Deportiva Carmelita. He was the first-choice keeper in his two final seasons with the club, winning six national championships and the 2005 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. Navas was also part of the Saprissa team that finished in 3rd place at the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship.

Albacete

In July 2010, Navas signed with Albacete Balompié of the Segunda División in Spain precisely 20 years after countryman Luis Conejo, who occupied the same position. He played in 36 games out of 42 during his first season, but his team suffered relegation after finishing in last position.

Levante

In the 2011–12 campaign, Navas reached La Liga, being loaned to Levante UD for a year. He made his debut in the competition on 13 May 2012 in the last round, playing in a 3–0 home win against Athletic Bilbao that confirmed the club's first ever qualification for the UEFA Europa League, and joined the Valencian club on a three-year contract in July of that year. Despite initially being back-up to Gustavo Munúa, Navas was the first-choice goalkeeper for Levante in the 2013–14 season, and was nominated as the league's best goalkeeper alongside Thibaut Courtois of Atlético Madrid and Willy Caballero of Málaga CF, going on to win the prize. In March 2014, he was La Liga Player of the Month, the first goalkeeper to win the accolade. He finished the season as the goalkeeper with the most saves (267) in La Liga, finishing fourth in the Zamora Trophy conceding 39 goals in 36 games despite playing for a 'lower ranked' team.

Real Madrid

2014–15

On 3 August 2014, Real Madrid triggered Navas' €10 million buyout clause, and he signed a six-year contract with the club. His first competitive call-up was on 12 August, sitting on the bench as Iker Casillas played in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup, which Real Madrid won 2–0 against Sevilla at the Cardiff City Stadium. Navas was given his debut for the club on 23 September, in a 5–1 victory over Elche at the Santiago Bernabéu. He was given his Champions League debut on 26 November, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–1 away win against Swiss side FC Basel. On 20 December, he was on the bench as his team won the Club World Cup, defeating Club Atlético San Lorenzo in the final in Morocco. His performances for Levante in the previous La Liga season and Costa Rica in the 2014 World Cup led him win Player of the Year at the 2014 CONCACAF Awards, earning the dual distinction of the first Costa Rican and goalkeeper to do so.

2015–16

With the departure of Casillas from Real Madrid, Navas inherited his number 1 shirt for the 2015–16 La Liga season. Madrid agreed to transfer Navas to Manchester United in part-exchange for David de Gea on 31 August 2015. Still, the deal collapsed because the documents were not submitted to FIFA before the Spanish transfer deadline.

Madrid thrashed Real Betis in their home opener by a score of 5–0 with a fine performance from Navas, making several saves and stopping a penalty. He was a regular starter when the team won the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League. Navas earned the dual distinction of becoming the first Costa Rican and Central American ever to play in and win the men's Champions League final. He set a new record for Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League by not conceding a single goal in his first eight appearances; 6 of these were in the 2015–16 season. He also usurped Edwin van der Sar to reach the second spot in clean sheets behind Jens Lehmann in the all-time list. He was the best goalkeeper in the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League season, conceding only three goals in 12 appearances, keeping nine clean sheets.

2016–17

He was the starting goalkeeper when Madrid won the 2016–17 La Liga and the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League. On 29 January 2017 after the 3–0 win at home to Real Sociedad in La Liga, Navas became the first player from Costa Rica to reach 100 La Liga appearances. His performances during the double trophy-winning season led him to win the Player of the Year for the second time at the 2017 CONCACAF Awards.

2017–18

Navas made his 100th appearance for Madrid during the 2–0 second-leg home win over Barcelona. During the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, he started eleven games, as Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall Champions League title beating Liverpool 3–1 in the final. The win against Liverpool saw Navas claim his 100th victory for Madrid in only 141 appearances. Navas produced some fine performances in the Champions League including a superb display against Bayern Munich in their semi-final second leg clash which helped Real Madrid qualify to the final. He made eight saves during the game, his highest tally in a Champions League knock-out game. Bayern Munich manager Jupp Heynckes praised Navas after the game as the reason for Real Madrid's qualification.

2018–19

Navas’ fifth season at Real Madrid began with the much-anticipated arrival of Thibaut Courtois to compete for the number 1 goalkeeping spot. Despite Courtois’ arrival, Navas was selected to play in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup which resulted in a 2–4 loss to city rivals Atlético Madrid. Navas then went on to start the opening game of La Liga, comfortably keeping his first clean sheet of the season with a 2–0 win over Getafe CF. His performances in the last Champions League campaign led him to be voted as the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season beating off competition from then Roma goalkeeper Alisson Becker and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. On 9 January 2019, Navas made his 150th appearance in all competitions for Madrid in their 3–0 home win against Leganés in the Copa del Rey. On 6 April 2019 Navas became the first ever non-Spanish goalkeeper to reach 100 La Liga appearances for Real Madrid.

Paris Saint-Germain

Navas joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on a four-year contract on 2 September 2019, becoming the first Costa Rican to play for the men's team. He made his Ligue 1 debut 12 days later, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 home win against Strasbourg. On 24 July 2020, Navas won his 20th career club trophy after beating Saint-Étienne in the Coupe de France final. On 31 July, he kept a clean sheet and saved a spot kick in the resulting shoot-out as PSG defeated Lyon 6–5 on penalties in the 2020 Coupe de la Ligue Final. That win marked Navas' 15th trophy in Europe, matching Rafael Márquez's record for a CONCACAF player. On 23 August 2020, Navas started his 4th Champions League final, losing to Bayern Munich 1–0. He finished the European campaign with 5 clean sheets, the second most after Manuel Neuer despite having played 191 minutes less.

Navas started his second season with PSG as one of the seven club players to test positive for COVID-19. He missed the clubs first two games due to the quarantine requirement. On 16 September 2020, Navas played his first game of the season winning and keeping a clean sheet against Metz. On 17 September, UEFA announced Navas, for the second time, as a nominee for the 2019–20 Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season award. On 20 September, Navas starred in PSG's 3–0 away win to Nice

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases