32 Greatest footballers in the history of the English Premier League (Part 3)
30. Pepe Reina:
Pepe Reina is a Spanish footballer, who is currently performing as a goalkeeper for the English team, Liverpool, and is also a second choice goalkeeper for the World Cup winning team Spain.
Pepe Reina is a son to the former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina. Reina started his career from Barcelona’s youth team and made his La Liga debut during the 2000-2001 season. Later, he signed for the Spanish side Villareal, in 2004.
Even though he got the opportunity to perform for the Spanish side, he still made a move to the English side Liverpool and made his debut for the English side the very next year, in 2005.
He did not have to wait for long to become the first team goalkeeper and started featuring for the club as a first choice goalkeeper, instantly. The next year, he managed to grab his first honour alongside the English club. It was the FA Cup that Liverpool
won and it was Reina’s three out of four fabulous penalty saves against West Ham United that helped the English team win the FA Cup title.
In 2007, he was in the squad of the Liverpool team that reached the UEFA Champions League final. Reina and his father both reached the final of the Champions League and it was a huge achievement for the young Reina to reach such a big stage. However, his
team lost the match to AC Milan and could not get their hands on the Champions League. He has been a part of the club for 5 years and currently he is in the 6th season and throughout his 5 year career with the club, he managed to win the Premier
League Golden Glove award for three years. This is a record itself as many great goalkeepers like Edwin Van der Saar and Cech also play in the English Premier League but it is Reina that saves the day for Liverpool and wins the Golden Glove award.
While Reina is an outstanding goalkeeper alongside the English team, Liverpool, he used to be nothing less for the Under-17 Spanish youth team. At International level, Reina represented his country in the Spain’s youth team as they won the UEFA European
Under-17 Football Championship in 1999. He was only 15-years old as he became the first team goalkeeper for the under 17 side. Later, in 2005 the Liverpool man made his senior debut. However, it was still the Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who was considered
to be “first choice” because of his extraordinary skills and reflexes between the poles.
In 2006, Reina was a part of the Spanish squad that went off to the FIFA World Cup. Even though he could not feature for the team throughout the tournament, in 2008, he got the opportunity to prove himself. During Euro 2008, Reina got the opportunity to
stand between the poles for the Spanish side as Iker Casillas was to be rested for one match. His side, however, won the Euro 2008 and he won his first international honour.
During the FIFA World Cup 2010, Reina was able to win another international honour. Even though he sat on the bench throughout the tournament, it was the Spanish side that actually won the FIFA World Cup 2010 and earned him an award of the “world champions”
as he was handed the gold medal.
During the FIFA World Cup 2010, the Spanish team faced an over-defensive South American side, Paraguay. Paraguay won a penalty during the dying moments of the match and even though Reina was not a part of the team, he still told Iker Casillas where the penalty
is going to go and Casillas took his advice and dived where he told him to. Later, the Spanish captain told the press about the incident and said that he was “thankful” to Reina for helping him save that penalty.
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