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Icons Legend of the Week #14: Pepe Reina

by Al 11. October 2011 08:01

In his new autobiography, Pepe Reina has lifted the lid on his time at Liverpool. But amid revelations of dressing room bust-ups, broken-down transfers and disillusionment at the ownership of Hicks and Gillett, it is important not to lose sight of the facts. Reina is under contract with Liverpool until 2016, he loves the club, and he is absolutely crucial to its success.

When Rafael Benitez brought Reina to Liverpool from Spanish side Villarreal for £6m in 2005, he hailed him as "the best goalkeeper in Spain". Real Madrid's Iker Casillas may dispute that claim, but since his arrival at Anfield, there is no doubt that Reina has developed into one of the world's best.

Reina is from Madrid, but like so many top Spanish players, he is a product of Barcelona's famed La Masia youth academy. His father, Miguel, also a goalkeeper, played for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid during the 60s and 70s. A young Pepe Reina followed his father's footsteps when he made his La Liga debut for Barca during the 2000-2001 season, but moved to Villarreal the following year in search of first team football. It wasn't long before he caught Benitez's eye.

A Liverpool legend in the making, Reina, now 29, proved an instant success at Anfield, deposing Jerzy Dudek as first choice in a record-breaking debut season. Between October and December of 2005, Reina broke Liverpool's club record with an incredible 11 consecutive clean-sheets. In his first season at Anfield, he kept a total of 20 Premier League clean sheets, and was awarded the Golden Glove. Reina was instrumental in Liverpool's 2006 FA Cup triumph too, living up to his reputation as a penalty-saving specialist with three saves from four West Ham penalties in the shoot-out.

Indeed, Reina had already proved he was no slouch when it came to saving penalties. In his final season at Villarreal, he had saved seven out of nine, and he has continued to perform penalty heroics for Liverpool since the 2006 FA Cup final, notably in the 2007 Champions League semi-final against Chelsea, when he capped an excellent performance over two legs with two penalty saves in the shoot-out.

Liverpool failed to repeat their Istanbul heroics that year as AC Milan exacted a 2-1 revenge in the final, but Reina's individual performance throughout the season drew the plaudits. With 19 Premier League clean sheets, he won the Golden Glove for the second consecutive year, and on 2nd February 2008, in his 92nd league appearance for the Reds, he became the quickest goalkeeper in their history to reach a half century of shut-outs.

Reina has not missed Premier League match since the final game of the 2006/07 season against Charlton, meaning Saturday's game against Manchester United will be his 160th consecutive league appearance. It is a remarkable record, and furthermore, he has kept a total of 109 clean sheets in his 226 Premier League appearances to date. Overall, since joining Liverpool he has kept 146 clean sheets in 317 games.

At international level, Pepe Reina was part of Spain's Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010-winning squads. He has made 22 appearances for La Roja since making his debut in a friendly against Uruguay in 2005, but he is unfortunate that his career has coincided with that of Casillas, Spain's current captain. While he may be second choice for his country, Reina still comes comfortably inside the world's top five goalkeepers.

Reina is as important to Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool as fellow Kop heroes Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, and in the absence of those two, it has been the Spaniard who has taken the captain's armband.

In September, Reina announced that he was happy to stay at Liverpool for another five or six years. If he can uphold the high standards he has set himself since 2005, that could be the best news Liverpool fans hear all year.

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View Icons full range of signed Pepe Reina products here.

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The Great Icons Summer Sale 2011: Viva España!

by Finbarr 11. July 2011 11:47

 

Not only is it a great time to be a fan of Spanish football, it's also bloody hard not to be. Having spent the best part of fifty years as perennial bottlers, the national side have established themselves as the best in the world, patenting their thrilling, incomparable brand of tiki-taka, to the delight of all and sundry.

The emergence of La Furia Roja has coincided with the dominance of Barcelona, who many commentators have described as the "greatest team ever." So taken with what they've seen emanating from the Iberian Peninsula, the English media have demanded that the FA do everything in their power to emulate what the Spanish have done at a grassroots level, but whether we'll ever see Englishman grace a field with such elegance is questionable. 

We at Icons have championed the Spanish game and the finest purveyors of it for many years. Given the current zeitgeist for Spanish memorabilia, we thought there would be no better way to kick off The Great Icons Summer Sale by slashing prices on some of our favourite pieces from some of our favourite Spanish or Spanish based players.

There can be little doubting the fact that La Liga plays host to the best players in the world. For the past four seasons, the top three players of the FIFA World Player of the Year either ply or have plied their trade in the Spanish top flight. Last year, the top three were all based in La Liga, a statistic reflected in the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or results. 

We're delighted to present discounted goods from many of those featured. We've got some beautiful, signed action photos of 2008's World Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo (many going at half price) playing for Real Madrid.

From last year's Ballon D'Or runner up, Andres Iniesta, we've got a signed picture of his thrilling last minute winner for Barcelona against Chelsea in the Champions League a few years back (again, 50% off).

From the 2007 World Player of the Year Kaká, we have a fantastic signed and numbered Real Madrid shirt and signed boots. Alongside Kaká, Sergio 'Kun' Aguero has also established himself as one of the best foreign imports to La Liga and we've got a range of his shirts and goodies to give away at a big discount. 

But the Spanish revolution of the past five years isn't just about individual awards. Lest we forget, this is one of the only sides in history to win successive major international tournaments.

To mark their dominance, we've assembled a range of cut-price merchandise from some of the stars of their all-conquering squad, including a Real Madrid shirt signed by Iker Casillas, an amazing signed photo of Cesc Fabregas lifting the World Cup, signed photos of Xabi Alonso and Pepe Reina in their pomp for both Spain and Liverpool and their erstwhile Merseyside teammate Fernando Torres, also in his Liverpool heyday. 

We'll be running the sale for a number of weeks, with a new theme every seven days. If you fancy yourself as a bit of a Spainophile, then, this is your chance to pick up some great stuff at a fraction of the retail price. 

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