Íker Casillas has reached his goal again…

The 31-year-old Spanish soccer star, captain of Real Madrid and the Spanish national soccer team, has been named goalkeeper of the year for the fifth straight time by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
Casillas earned 224 points in voting by sports journalists worldwide to beat out Juventus and Italian national team goalie Gianluigi Buffon, who received 128 points.

Chelsea’s Petr Cech finished third with 92 points, followed by Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer with 85, Manchester City’s Joe Hart with 26 and Barcelona’s Victor Valdes with 15.

Prior to winning the award for the first time in 2008, Casillas had finished in the top four in the voting on four occasions between 2003 and 2007.

Casillas picked up the honor despite struggling at the end of last year and being replaced by backup goalkeeper Antonio Adan for Real Madrid’s last match of 2012, a road loss to Malaga in Spanish league action.

Casillas told reporters this week that he’s determined to win back his starting spot in time for Madrid’s next league match Sunday against Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid is in third place in the Spanish league standings and trails leader FC Barcelona by a whopping 16 points after 17 games played.