体坛英语新闻：Casillas to consider leaving Real Madrid

MADRID, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid and Spain captain, Iker Casillas admitted on Thursday that if his situation at his club does not change in the next three months he would consider leaving.

Although he is first choice in goal for Real Madrid in the Champions League, Casillas has been reduced to substitute by coach Carlo Ancelotti, who has preferred Diego Lopez in goal for the club's domestic BBVA Primera Liga games.

Casillas' lack of first team action also saw him lose the Spain jersey for Spain's World Cup qualifying game at home to Belarus last Friday and although he returned against Georgia on Tuesday, that is a clear warning to the goalkeeper that unless he is playing regularly then his place at the World Cup is at risk.

Perhaps it is that threat which prompted Casillas to speak at a promotional event in Madrid on Thursday afternoon, when he was honest about his future.

"If the situation doesn't change in three months, I will ask myself the question and maybe the answer will be that I am thinking about leaving," said Casillas, who added that his wish was to stay at the club for "a very long time."

"Players have moments when they lose protagonism or enjoying the game and they think about taking a decision. I am a human being and a footballer and I have not played for nine months, so it also happens to me. I want to be here and to carry on winning titles for Real Madrid, but there will come a day when maybe I have to take a decision."

"As things stand now, my objective is to fight for a place as I have done all of these days. I had not been clear about my future, I would have said to the club president (Florentino Perez) that I wanted to leave and that whatever happened, I wanted to leave at Christmas," he added.

However, the goalkeeper didn't want to blame Ancelotti for leaving him out of the side. "They are decisions a coach has to make. There are 24 players in the squad and all of them want to play," he said, commenting that, "the club is more important than the individual player."

Casillas lost his first team place last January after breaking a bone in his hand and former coach Jose Mourinho decided to stick with Lopez amid rumors of poor relations between himself and the man who is now in charge at Chelsea.

"I don't hold anything against him and what's more, I am sure that we'll meet up again and have a Coca-Cola at a table together. There is no need to go into it further, our relation is a question for ourselves and we both know what happened. You have to remember the good things, he gave the team a 'plus' to take us once again to where we had to be," commented Casillas, whose words will nevertheless set the rumor mill spinning ahead of the opening of the January transfer window.