Recently, the media reported that the 51-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura extended the contract with the Yokohama club for another year. By the way, this is the 34th season of his career. He became the oldest football player in the world on the day he entered the field to play in an official match. That day he was 50 years old and 7 days old. Thus, he broke the Stanley Matthews record, which will be described below.
Most athletes finish their professional careers in the fourth ten. But history knows many exceptions ...
The oldest playing football players
Impressive David James made his debut at the age of 27 for the England national team, but he played only 40 in the World Cup. Now he is 48 and he is only 7 years older than Andre Villas-Boas. In 2012, James was awarded the Order of the British Empire, but the pension seemed very boring to him and in the spring of the same year he left for Iceland. He spent the next 2 years at Vestmannaeyar club, where he regularly took to the field in the starting lineup, although most of his colleagues were almost twice as young. Today, James is a playing coach for Kerala Blasters.
Bengt Anderson is the oldest of the currently playing athletes. The 191-centimeter goalkeeper stood for “Tenerife” for a couple of years, played for the Swedish national team for more than 10 matches, but even having left Gotterborg at 41, he did not retire, but went to Norway for playing practice. Now 52, he plays for Särö IK and coaches Kållered SK at the same time.
Kim Byun Ji - this legendary goalkeeper from Korea is associated with the 1998 World Cup, which many, like himself, consider the peak of his career. At the home tournament in 2004, as part of Guus Hiddink’s team, he took 4th place, but he did not succeed in becoming the main goalkeeper, for which the coach personally apologized to the star. Now he is 48 years old and he still plays in the Korean Premier League, having received all possible records - by matches, by age, by “crackers”. After completing a career, he plans to become an administrator or coach.
3 oldest players in history
No. 1. Stanley Matthews (played from 1932 to 1965) - is unique in that he ran away about 700 matches without receiving any warnings from the judges, much less a red card. He began his career at Stoke City, but spent his best years serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II. After the war, at the age of 32, he stayed in Blackpool and devoted the next 13 years to a local club. The last official match played for the England team. Then he was already 42 years old. After 6 years, he will receive the prize of the best player in the UK and will be the first footballer to be awarded the title of knight.
Number 2. Vladimir Tumaev (played from 1989 to 2005) - is the most colorful football player in recent history. Until the age of 40, he preferred to play football at an amateur level. In the 80s he organized the Gazovik club and even managed to play for him at the USSR Championship. He scored the winning ball at the age of 59 and this is what he said about his late career:
There was something interesting about it, some kind of wildness. But I always explained to the team: “Guys, if I'm bothering you and tired of you, I can not go out.” But they said so: “Alexeyich, you get dressed so that the judges see you, and we will know that they will not kill us on the road.”
No. 3. The accomplishments of Derek May may be envied by Lionel Messi himself. Judge for yourself: I took part in more than 2050 games, 12 of which were goalkeeper, played in 700 matches (5x5), and at 74, I scored the 1300th goal in my career. Today he is 81, he is the father of three children and the grandfather of four grandchildren. In addition, Derek May documented his own statistics in a 500-page album, which he began to lead at the age of 15.
The oldest footballers in the world
There are many age players in the world, however, the oldest of them is Dicky Bortwick. He first entered the field in 1947. But to call him a lucky footballer is hardly possible. However, Bortwick played for Manchester United. Now he is 83 and he continues to enter the field, but as a veteran soccer player. He plays for the Wike Rangers team. This is not to say that Dicky's speed remained the same as in the old days, but for 83 years he is a fairly fast player.
Another unique and oldest footballer is Roger Milla. At 42, he became a World Championship player (1994) and was the only player at that age. But an interesting fact is that at the 1990 World Cup he scored as many as 4 goals against his opponents. Largely thanks to Roger, the Cameroon team was able to reach the quarter finals.
Another unique and oldest footballer is Pedro Ribeiro Lima. His entire professional career took place in Brazil, but he scored his first goal only at 58 years old.
Experience against youth: the oldest football players of the 2018 World Cup
Left without Kambolov, Dzhikiya and Vasin, the coach of the Russian national team was forced to call for help Sergei Ignashevich. Having played in a match with Austria at the age of 38 years and 320 days, the athlete became the most adult player to enter the field in the history of our country. Thus, he broke the record of Lev Yashin, who took part in the match with Greece (1967). Then he was 37 years old and 267 days.
The oldest player in the 2018 World Cup can rightly be called the goalkeeper of Egypt - Essam al-Hadari. The 45-year-old goalkeeper was thinking of ending his career, but he could not miss the chance to fulfill his cherished dream - to play in the national team.
Among the defenders, it is worth noting two athletes at once:
- Rafael Marquez (Mexico). The 39-year-old former FC Barcelona player said goodbye to the club, but promised to end his career only after speaking at the championship.
- Felipe Balloy. The 37-year-old defender of the Panama national team already played as part of the national team, but he never managed to play at the World Cup. We hope that he liked it in Russia.
Tim Cahill (38) is not just a player, but a real legend and a star of Australians. He is the first who managed to score a goal at the World Cup. The miracle happened in Germany, where the team not only got to the final stage of the tournament, but was also able to leave the group.
Midfielders:
- Andres Iniesta (34) - a legend of blue-garnet said that he will not go to Qatar and the World Cup in Russia is his “last tour”;
- Mikael Kron-Delhi (35) - at the beginning of last year he signed a contract with Deportivo, and made his debut for the Danish team already in 2006;
- Olafur Skulason - he can not be called the star of Iceland, but in his full 35 he appears steadily on the field.
He is 51, but he still scores
Kazuyoshi Miura's professional career began in 1986. During this time, he replaced many Brazilian clubs, managed to play in Italy, and as part of the national team he played 89 matches, where he scored 55 goals. The last time in the form of the Japanese national team, he entered the field 19 years ago.
At the age of 38, the forward moved to Yokohama. Fans believed that in this club he would soon end his career, however, the aftermath lasted for as long as 13 years.
UEFA Champions League oldest player
Marco Ballotta was born in the Emilia-Romagna region. Before playing in “adult” football, he was listed in the youth club “Bologna”. From 1984 to 1990, the athlete spent in the "Modena". In early 1991, he was sold to Cesena, but not for long, since after 6 months he moved to Parma, which also played in Serie A.
The peak of his career came in the 1992/93 season, when the team won the UEFA Cup and took an honorable third place in the Championship. Then he was 43 years old and 253 days. The next season, Marco was not in very good shape, so he played only 3 matches, and another goalkeeper, Luca Bucci, came out on the Cup Cup.
The most productive goalkeeper
5 years ago, at the age of 41, Rogerio Ceni announced his retirement. For all 23 years, he played for the “São Paulo". During this time, as part of the team, he spent more than 1000 matches, where he scored 114 goals. In addition, the Brazilian is listed in the Guinness Book of Records - he was recognized as the most productive goalkeeper in history.
He played for the national team in 2002. And if you remember, it was Brazil that became the owner of the World Cup.
Veteran of Veterans
Not being a perfect athlete, Ruslan Alekseevich Adzhinzhal became not only a synonym for love for this game, but also a participant-mascot of many matches of the Major League.
Chunky, short and athletic, very persistent, he went season after season on the field as part of the state teams. Ruslan, like his brother Beslan, did not get a chance to show his talent in top clubs, but he is one of the few who can boast of playing in one club for 20 years. Yes, Ajinjala cannot be called a nomad footballer.
Over the whole career - not a single scandal! Correctness on the field and beyond, the respect of colleagues, the recognition of fans - that is what Ruslan Alekseevich remembered. He ended his career on June 7, 2015 at the age of 40. To say that the football legend hung on the nail would be too pathetic and loud. He just loved football, and we can only thank him for a decent game for the hundredth time.