In the aftermath of Italy's failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, Iker Casillas is joining the fanfare surrounding Gianluigi Buffon.
On Monday, after Italy and Sweden played out a scoreless draw that confirmed the Azzurri will miss the World Cup for the first time since 1958, Casillas wrote a statement on Twitter which read: "I don't like seeing you like this at all! I want to see you as usual, as you continue to be for many: a LEGEND. Proud to meet you and proud of having faced you many times. You still have to delight us in football, friend!"
After Italy fell 1-0 on aggregate to Sweden, Buffon was in tears, and said: "I'm not sorry for myself but all of Italian football. We failed at something which also means something on a social level. There's regret at finishing like that, not because time passes."
Buffon's post-match comments have been widely interpreted to mean he's retiring from international competition.
Casillas and Buffon are regarded as the best two goalkeepers of a generation that is approaching the end of the road. At the international level, they met at Euro 2008, when Spain beat the Azzurri on penalty kicks in the quarter-finals as the Spanish shot-stopper denied Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale. The two also faced off in the final of Euro 2012, when La Roja produced a 4-0 victory.