José Santiago Cañizares Ruiz (; born 18 December 1969) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently a rally driver. A product of Real Madrid's youth academies, he eventually joined the first team but proved unable to establish himself there, being loaned out twice. He moved to Valencia in 1998, appearing in 418 official matches over the next decade and winning several major titles, including two La Liga championships and the 2004 UEFA Cup. Cañizares represented Spain in three World Cups and as many European Championships, and won a gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. In 2004, Peter Schmeichel said that he regarded him as the "finest goalkeeper in world football". Club career Born in Madrid but raised in Puertollano, Castile-La Mancha from where his parents hailed, Cañizares started his career with Real Madrid in 1988, playing initially with its C-team. He started professionally with Elche CF, CP Mérida and RC Celta de Vigo, making his first La Liga appearance with the Galicians in the 1992–93 season, missing only two league games during his tenure and subsequently returning to Real Madrid. Unable to cement a starting place, his best output being 26 matches during 1997–98 (but he lost his place in the final part of the year to Bodo Illgner, thus missing the 1998 Champions League final), Cañizares moved to Valencia CF in 1998 to replace the retired Andoni Zubizarreta. He helped the club to win the Spanish Cup and Supercup finals in 1999, also reaching consecutive UEFA Champions League finals (2000 and 2001, saving a penalty from FC Bayern Munich's Mehmet Scholl in normal time of an eventual penalty shootout defeat in the latter edition) and winning national championships in 2002 and 2004, adding the UEFA Cup and Supercup 2004 finals; following the latter campaign, the 34-year-old renewed his contract with the Che for a further two years. In December 2007 Cañizares, alongside teammates Miguel Ángel Angulo and David Albelda, was axed by manager Ronald Koeman, with all three players limited to training and unable to join another side in Spain, having already played four league games. In late April 2008, however, with Koeman's sacking, all three were reinstated by new coach Voro in a squad seriously threatened with relegation, with five rounds remaining; he returned to action on 27 April 2008 as Timo Hildebrand and Juan Luis Mora were injured, in a 3–0 home