Keylor Antonio Navas Gamboa (Spanish pronunciation: [keiˈloɾ anˈtonjo ˈnaβaz ɣamˈbo.a];[a] born 15 December 1986), known as Keylor Navas (pronounced [ˈnaβas]) 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; his impressive performances helped the team reach the quarter-finals of the latter tournament.
On 3 August 2014, Real Madrid triggered Navas’ €10 million buyout clause,[13] and he signed a six-year contract with the club.[14] His first competitive call-up was on 12 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.[15] Navas was given his debut for the club on 23 September, in a 5–1 victory over Elche at the Santiago Bernabéu.[16] On 20 December, he was on the bench as his team won the Club World Cup, defeating Club Atletico San Lorenzo in the final in Morocco.[17]
With the departure of Casillas from Real Madrid, Navas inherited his number 1 shirt for the 2015–16 La Liga season.[18] Madrid agreed to transfer Navas to Manchester United in part-exchange for David de Gea on 31 August 2015, but the deal collapsed because the documents were not submitted to FIFA before the Spanish transfer deadline.[19]
He was a regular starter when the team won the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League. He set a new record for Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League by not conceding a single goal in his first 8 appearances; 6 of these were in the 2015–16 season. He also usurped Edwin van der Sar to reach the second spot in clean sheets behind Jens Lehmann in the all-time list. He was the most consistent keeper in the 2015–16 season conceding only 3 goals in 11 appearances, keeping 9 clean sheets.[20]
He was the starting goalkeeper when Madrid won the 2016–17 La Liga[21][22] and the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League.
Navas was part of the Costa Rican squad that played in the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Finland. He was called up for the full national team for the first time in August 2006, to play a friendly tournament in Europe against Austria and Switzerland. Navas gained his first cap on 11 October 2008, a 4–1 away victory over Suriname in the third round of qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which qualified the team into the next stage.[24] Four days later at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, he kept his first international clean sheet in a 2–0 victory over Haiti.[25] The team eventually reached the intercontinental play-offs for the tournament, losing narrowly to Uruguay.[26]
Navas appeared with Los Ticos in two CONCACAF Gold Cup competitions, being named the best goalkeeper in the 2009 edition as he helped his country reach the semi-finals.[27] He returned to help them to the quarter-finals two years later, but missed the 2013 tournament through injury, suffering the same fate again in 2015.
He made his debut in the FIFA World Cup on 14 June 2014, appearing in a 3–1 group stage win against Uruguay in Fortaleza,[29] and only conceded that single goal in the three Group games as Costa Rica qualified for the knockout stages as group winners.[30]
On 29 June, in the round of 16 match against Greece, Navas was named Man of the match after several outstanding saves in normal time and a save from Theofanis Gekas’ kick during the penalty shootout, which led to Costa Rica reaching the quarter-finals for the first time ever.[31] He ended the tournament with three clean sheets from five matches, as the country was knocked out by the Netherlands after a penalty shootout,[32] where he was named man of the match for the third time.[2] He was also one of three nominees for the Golden Glove Award, losing out to Manuel Neuer of Germany.
