Porto's Rúben Neves, Iker Casillas make history
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
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Porto's Rúben Neves, 18, became the youngest UEFA Champions League captain in the 2-0 defeat of Maccabi Tel-Aviv in which Iker Casillas kept a competition-record 51st clean sheet.
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Rúben Neves became the youngest man to start as captain in the UEFA Champions League proper when he led Porto against Maccabi Tel-Aviv on Tuesday, aged 18 years 221 days, in a 2-0 win where Iker Casillas kept a competition-record 51st clean sheet.
The previous captaincy record-holder was Rafael van der Vaart, who skippered Ajax at AC Milan on 16 September 2003, aged 20 years 217 days. Igor Akinfeev was only ten days older when he donned the armband for CSKA Moskva at home to Porto on 21 November 2006.
A Porto youth product born on 13 March 1997, midfielder Neves made his Porto debut on 15 August 2014 in the Liga against Marítimo, also getting his first goal, and five days later became the youngest Portuguese player in a UEFA Champions League play-off, against LOSC Lille. He went on to figure regularly up to the quarter-finals.
Having featured in last summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the youngest ever to do so for Portugal, teenager Neves was handed the Porto armband earlier this month when Maicon was injured.
Meanwhile Iker Casillas, who already has played more UEFA Champions League games than anyone else, moved one ahead of Edwin van der Sar in the clean sheets reckoning.
UEFA.com has twice spotlighted Neves during his rise to prominence ...
17 August 2014
2 May 2015
