Keilor Navas Biography

KEYLOR NAVAS, OUR OUTSTANDING GOALKEEPER Keylor Antonio Navas Gamboa born 15th December 1986, is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Costa Rica national team. After starting out at Saprissa he moved to Albacete, and then to Levante in La Liga. Navas joined Real Madrid in 2014 for €10 million. Navas has played over 70 times for Costa Rica since making his debut in 2008.

He has represented the country at two CONCACAF Gold Cups and the 2014 World Cup and 2018 World Cup. His impressive performances helped the team reach the quarter-finals of the 2014 tournament.

Born in San Isidro de El General, Navas made his professional debut with Deportivo Saprissa on 6th November 2005.

La Liga season and Costa Rica in the 2014 World Cup led him win Player of the Year at the 2014 CONCACAF Awards, becoming the first Costa Rican and first goalkeeper to do so.

His first competitive call-up was on 12th 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.

Navas made his debut in the FIFA World Cup on 14th 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.