Zamorano, Casillas Led this Fan to Real Madrid

LaLiga

·28 March 2023

Zamorano, Casillas Led this Fan to Real Madrid

Thomas Nef remembers hearing stories of Iván Zamorano growing up. The prolific Chilean striker scored more than 100 goals for Real Madrid between 1992-96, including a league-leading 28 to guide Los Blancos to the 1994/95 LaLiga title.

After moving from Chile to Edmonton, Canada when he was 9 years old, Nef’s interest and fandom with Real Madrid continued to grow. He was in awe of goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who not only starred for the 35-time LaLiga champions from 1999 until 2015, but was also in net for the Spanish national team that won the 2008 UEFA European Championship, 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2012 Euros.

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“I was a goalkeeper growing up so watching Iker Casillas playing on a regular basis was amazing,” Nef says. “I fell in love with the position because of Iker Casillas. I’m a fan of Real Madrid because of the dynasty Spain had from 2008-12 with Casillas being a big part of that.”

Now 24, Nef has leveraged his soccer passion and fandom into his professional career as a sports journalist. He is one of the co-owners of Dosis Futbolera, a digital media company that covers soccer in America and Europe with more than 150 writers throughout 20 countries.

While he hasn’t been to Santiago Bernabéu as a fan or journalist yet, Dosis Futbolera has two accredited journalists who cover Real Madrid week in and week out.

“To see something I helped start and create to be accredited to Real Madrid is massive,” Nef says. “It was a dream come true.”

With watching or covering Real Madrid in person on his bucket list, Nef has been able to travel the globe thanks to his favorite sport.

He was at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia as a fan and at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as a journalist; he’s also been to France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

“It’s something I still dream of doing and I need to knock off my bucket list,” he says. “Getting credited for a Real Madrid match is on the list of things to do.”

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The Real Madrid Collector

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