Navas Keylor
Keilor Antonio Navas Gamboa, known as Keylor Navas, is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for French club Paris Saint-Germain and the Costa Rica national team. After starting out at Saprissa in his home country, where he won six Liga FPD titles and the CONCACAF Champions League, 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. He won a total of twelve titles with Real Madrid, including one La Liga title and three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles as the first choice goalkeeper. In 2019, he was signed by French club Paris Saint-Germain. Navas has played over 90 times for Costa Rica since making his debut in 2008. He has represented the country at two CONCACAF Gold Cups and the 2014 and 2018 editions of the FIFA World Cup. He was a member of the Costa Rican team that reached the semi-finals of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which he was named best goalkeeper. His impressive performances also helped the team reach the quarter-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Often considered as one of the world’s best goalkeepers, the best in the history of CONCACAF, and one of the best in the history of Latin America, Navas has also won numerous individual awards. He was named CONCACAF Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year for three consecutive years between 2016 and 2018. 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.
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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. 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, but the deal collapsed because the documents were not submitted to FIFA before the Spanish transfer deadline. 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. 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 8 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. Navas’s 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 cleansheet 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. Navas joined Paris Saint-Germain on a four-year contract on 2 September 2019, becoming the first Costa Rican to play for the club.
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Navas is a Christian. He spoke about his faith saying, “God for me comes first. Before every game I kneel, I open my arms and pray … My favourite passage of the Bible is Galatians 1:10 which says: “If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” On 3 December 2014, Navas announced that he had obtained Spanish citizenship. A documentary film, Hombre de Fe (Man of Faith), based on the life of Navas was released on 28 December 2017. Born in San Isidro de El General, Navas made his professional debut with Deportivo Saprissa on 6 November 2005, in a 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.
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Navas was part of the Costa Rican squad that played in the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Finland. He was called up for the full national team for the first time in August 2006, to play a friendly tournament in Europe against Austria and Switzerland. He was a member of the team that won a bronze medal at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games. Navas gained his first senior cap on 11 October 2008, in a 4–1 away victory over Suriname in the third round of qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which qualified the team into the next stage. Four days later at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, he kept his first international clean sheet in a 2–0 victory over Haiti. The team eventually reached the intercontinental play-offs for the tournament, losing narrowly to Uruguay. Navas was also a member of the Costa Rica squad that finished runners-up in the 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup. Navas appeared with Los Ticos in two CONCACAF Gold Cup competitions, being named the best goalkeeper in the 2009 edition as he helped his country reach the semi-finals. He returned to help them to the quarter-finals two years later, but missed the 2013 tournament through injury, suffering the same fate again in 2015. Navas made his debut in the FIFA World Cup on 14 June 2014, appearing in a 3–1 group stage win against Uruguay in Fortaleza, and started the other two group games only conceding a single goal as Costa Rica qualified for the knockout stages as group winners for the very first time. On 29 June, in the round of 16 match against Greece, Navas was named man of the match after several saves in normal time and a save from Theofanis Gekas’ kick during the penalty shootout, which led to Costa Rica reaching the quarter-finals for the first time ever. He ended the tournament with three clean sheets from five matches, as the country was knocked out by the Netherlands after a penalty shootout, where he was named man of the match for the third time, the only goalkeeper to do so. He was also one of three nominees for the Golden Glove Award, losing out to Manuel Neuer of Germany. In May 2018, Navas was named in the final squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He started all three group games making 10 saves and conceding 5 goals.
