Keylor Navas is the Most UNDERRATED Goalkeeper in the World

For the entirety of my channel, I've only made about 3 videos about goalkeepers, a very underappreciated position. But honestly, when it comes to all-time great goalkeepers, there aren't that many to mention. I would guess most people's personal top 10 goalkeepers of all time list would more or less have a lot of the same choices. However, I'd like to talk about a goalkeeper who'd accomplished so much in a short amount of time, as well as showed up multiple times in extremely tough situations to make some of the most iconic and clutch saves ever. Single-handedly saving his team and carrying his squad. And it's not someone you think. In fact, it's someone who even football executives seem to overlook and underappreciate. No other than Kahler Navas. From the very beginning of his career, Kahler Navas has never really had the traditional path that most superstars take. He never grew up as some sort of prodigy or attended a major youth program. He had to start from the very bottom. He came from a very poor family in and started his career for a local club named Saprissa for their youth program since the age of 13. And by the time he was old enough to move into their men's team, he never got any offers or was scouted by any other big clubs. It even took him a couple of years before he could prove to his manager that he was the right choice for the starting position. But Navas always had the dream of making it in the footballing world to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world and become successful so he could help his struggling family and community. And there's an entire movie about Navas which really showed the struggles he and others in Costa Rica really had growing up. In the 2008-2009 season, he would play 31 matches and concede 31 goals while keeping 11 clean sheets. If you don't understand goalkeeping stats, you might think it's terrible, but he was the best goalkeeper in the Costa Rican Primera Division. In the 2009-2010 season, he'd make a significant improvement in his form with 31 matches played, conceding only 25 goals, and keeping 13 clean sheets. This solidified that Navas was no fluke and it was just enough for clubs in Europe to start paying a little more attention. While playing professionally in his home country, he was getting by pretty alright for himself. But it wasn't anywhere close enough for him to take care of his family. He had to keep going until he reached the highest stage of football. But that dream of playing for a major club didn't come just quite yet. Until in 2010 when Spanish Segunda Division club Albicete decided to give Navas a try as the club's primary keeper. Throughout 36 appearances with them, he would concede 49 goals and have 5 clean sheets. Which isn't too good if I'm being honest, but you couldn't really put the blame on Navas as his team was just downright terrible. Finishing in last place and even getting relegated. It seemed like his dreams were crashing right before his eyes until his club decided to loan him out to Levante, finally landing him in La Liga. Navas would only have one short season to make an impression on Levante. And while they weren't exactly the definition of a world-class club, they're not really that far from it either. Navas made his debut in a critical match against Atletico Bilbao. Which they would go on to win 3-0 giving the club their first ever Europa League qualification. Navas was crucial as he stopped every single shot on goal that game. Convincing the club to sign him on a 3-year contract. During his first year officially playing for Levante, he wouldn't be the starter at first. But he was always called up against tough opponents and big elimination games for his composure, leadership, quick reflexes and incredible penalty stopping ability. He would make 25 appearances and only concede 22 goals while having 10 clean sheets. A significant improvement from his last season showing that he was adjusting comfortably to the pace of La Liga games. After further proving himself for Levante, he would become their permanent starter for the 2013-2014 La Liga season. In 39 appearances, he would have 40 goals conceded while having an impressive 18 clean sheets. I understand many of you might not hear a lot about goalkeeper stats so you might not know what's good or what's not. Basically, even having the same amount of goals conceded as matches played is already impressive in itself. And for context, that year Navas won the La Liga Goalkeeper of the Season award over Thibaut Courtois. He also became the first goalkeeper to ever win the La Liga Player of the Month award. That's right, not even Casillas has ever won that award. Showing you just how much of an impact he had on Levante. So much so that he, a goalkeeper, was actually their best player. Which if you think about it is actually kinda sad but also a statement of how good Navas is. But anyways, he ended his last season with Levante having 267 saves. Which was the most by any keeper in La Liga and finished 4th in the Zamora Trophy race. Which is basically an award for goalkeepers with the lowest goals conceded to games played ratio. And just like how Navas keeps his goal safe from the opponent's ball, today's sponsor, Ekster, can keep your wallet safe and secured as well. Ekster is a smart wallet and accessories company that revolutionizes the way you use your everyday items. With Ekster, you never have to worry about the age-old problem of losing your wallet, phone, or keys ever again. Ekster uses worldwide tracking to make sure you always know where the important things are. Because let's be honest, losing your wallet or phone could be one of the worst things ever. Ekster's smart wallets also offer a new way to hold your cash and cards. With just a simple press of a button, all your cards are easily available in a slim, sleek, and easy-to-use wallet that actually fits in your pocket. Plus, they're also made with leather so it feels really nice in your hands and also offers extra security with their RFID blocking technology. As someone who misplaces my wallet and phone at home all the time, Ekster is definitely a lifesaver. Right now, they're having a 15% off summer sale on their best items including the Presidential Wallet, but if you shop using my link in the description below, you also get another 5% off on top of your order. So now is the best time to upgrade your wallet. Visit ekster.com slash raymar or check the link in the description But anyways, after all the hard work, Navas was finally able to put himself on the spotlight. That's when Real Madrid would swoop right in and sign him. Finally making his dream of playing for a huge club a reality after all those years in his career. His signing made it become more apparent to the public that Casillas and Madrid were slowly parting ways. Navas' Champions League debut for Madrid was impressive when he kept a clean sheet against FC Basel and made a bunch of acrobatic saves. His first season saw him play 11 matches, which isn't much, but he managed to only concede 8 goals while having 5 clean sheets as well. The next season, Casillas had officially left Madrid, which meant that Navas was about to have some huge shoes to fill and a ton of expectations to meet. And meet those expectations, he did. In the 2015-2016 season, Navas would have the best year of his career playing 45 matches and only conceded 31 goals while keeping 22 clean sheets. Madrid had an already impressive defense at the time and Navas just made it even harder to score. Even during penalties, Navas was a beast. He set a record in Real Madrid for not conceding a single goal during his first 8 Champions League appearances. While also being the most consistent keeper in the Champions League that season, conceding only 3 goals in 12 appearances and keeping 9 clean sheets. Navas was truly a big time goalkeeper. Playing his best when it mattered the most and when the stakes are at the highest. He was one of the main reasons why Real Madrid dominated the Champions League and would help start an iconic 3-year dynasty. Navas played very consistently as well in the 2016-2017 season with 41 appearances, 50 goals conceded, and 7 clean sheets. But that year, he performed the best domestically which helped Real Madrid win the La Liga title while also going on to win the as well as winning back-to-back Champions League titles. Navas would make 44 appearances and concede 49 goals while keeping 11 clean sheets in the 2017-2018 season. Having yet another phenomenal goalkeeping year. But the highlight of this season was Navas' incredible Champions League play. Especially during Bayern Munich in the semi-final. Single-handedly keeping Madrid alive until they could recover and win. Making an insane 8 saves in a single match. Without Navas, Real Madrid would have been trashed. He single-handedly kept their hopes of a 3-peat alive. Which we all know they would go on to finally do. Navas had one of the most successful goalkeeping careers of all time in just a short period. Back in his home country, he was a footballing god. And globally, he was finally recognized as a world-class goalkeeper. However, in the 2018-2019 season, where he played 21 appearances, conceded 21 goals, and kept 7 clean sheets. Which again, are very solid numbers. Navas just gets abandoned by Real Madrid the very next season. They basically disrespected him even though he was one of their most crucial players in that dynasty and played great in every single season he was with the club. And just like that, the world just kind of stopped paying attention to him. Instead, crediting Real Madrid and their other stars as the reason for Navas' success. It's like people forgot that he was easily one of the best goalkeepers in the world. However, PSG was smart enough to sign him. As he would concede only 26 goals while having 19 clean sheets in 35 appearances. Showing that Real Madrid definitely made a mistake to get rid of him. But for some reason, people still don't pay attention and he's still underrated. He gets almost no respect from pundits who I could only remember talking about guys like De Gea or Courtois at the time. The 2020-2021 season would be the second best season of his career so far. Only conceding 36 goals in 45 appearances while also maintaining 20 clean sheets. He also leads Liga 1 in saves with a 79% save rate and again was another huge factor in keeping PSG alive in the Champions League for as long as they did with that terrible defense. But tell me, other than PSG fans, when was the last time you heard anything about Navas? The man has a resume that could easily place him in the top 10 goalkeepers of all time list but nobody really seems to give him the respect. I personally think he's very disrespected by Real Madrid and is still a very underrated player. I'm seeing a lot of websites rate keepers like Courtois or Loris as higher than Navas, which to me is pretty disrespectful. On top of it all, he was the CONCACAF goalkeeper for the year in 2016, 2017, and 2018, the 2020-2021 Liga 1 goalkeeper of the year, and the CONCACAF player of the decade, being known as the undisputed greatest player to ever come from Costa Rica. I mean just google the best goalkeepers in the world and look how far back he is. Now these results might be based off of popularity but I just find it sad that an all-time great keeper is so unrecognized and underappreciated. So I hope I was able to convince you guys and hopefully this video will let Navas be moved up just a little higher on that results list to give him the respect he deserves. But anyways, that's gonna do it for me today guys. Let me know what you think about Navas. Let me know where you guys rank Navas or what you think about him or even give me your own video recommendation in the comments below. Leaving a like is the best way to support the channel to help put this video on the algorithm so I'd very much appreciate it. Subscribe and turn those notification bells on if you enjoy this type of content and want to see Thank you guys for watching and I'll see you in the next one.