Iker Casillas has made a public apology to Spain fans after their 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Dutch in their opening World Cup clash on Friday.

After their biggest defeat in 51 years the Real Madrid goalkeeper admitted that it was the worst performance of his career, but also praised the Dutch side who totally outclassed the world champions.

“The first thing I have to do is offer a mea culpa,” Casillas said.

“This is the worst performance of my career. We have to say sorry. Holland were very good; we were the complete opposite,” he continued.

“Sometimes it’s good for things like this to happen so that you can react but we have to react now,” the shot-stopper concluded.

Spain lost their opening game of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa before going on to lift the trophy and the defending champions will be hoping this will be a good omen.