7 Footballers Who Are Defying Their Age & Still Playing

[CaaC (John)+]

Joshua Scott     16 hrs ago

 

Diego Forlan

It feels like the former Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, and Inter striker has been around forever and now at 40 years old, he’s still banging in the goals.  

Having played in England, Spain, Italy and Brazil before returning to Uruguay to win a league title with his boyhood club Penarol, Forlan is regarded as one of Uruguay’s best ever players and has always been a proven goalscorer.  

More recently his last stint was in the Hong Kong Premier League for Kitchee after joining them from Mumbai City in India. 

He is no stranger to moving to foreign lands so it looks like he will be scoring goals somewhere in the world well into his forties.   

Lucio

Another 40-year-old on the list and you would be forgiven for assuming he had hung his boots up years ago, but he is in fact still going strong.  

After making over 330 appearances in Europe’s top leagues with Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, and Inter he moved back to his native Brazil with Sao Paulo.  

With the typical stint in the Indian Super League thrown in for good measure he most recently played for Brasiliense in his homeland.  

This Brazilian legend isn’t quite ready to call time on his career and while he won’t be adding to his 105 international caps anytime soon he could still rack up the club career appearances for a few years to come.

 Shunsuke Nakamura

The set-piece specialist is still curling them in from 30 yards at the age of 40 in his native Japan. 

A hero in the eyes of Celtic fans after his stint with the club, where he scored that free kick against Manchester United, the former Japan international won three league titles in Scotland before moving on to Espanyol.  

Sadly it didn’t work out for him in Spain but a move back to Japan with Yokohama in 2010 was the catalyst to prolonging his career. 

Shaun Wright-Phillips

This Premier League veteran isn’t quite done yet. He is still playing, despite not having a club right now. 

After his relatively successful career in the English top flight with Manchester City, Chelsea and QPR he moved to New York Red Bulls to join his brother Bradley in 2015.  

After leaving the Red Bulls he went to join Didier Drogba at Phoenix Rising FC in the second tier in the USA but since leaving them in 2017 he has failed to secure another deal.  

He may not have a club right now but this 37-year-old winger isn’t done yet and who knows where he could end up next.

He still plays in the top flight for Jubilo Iwata and is ranked in the top ten for appearances and goals for his national team.

Jay Bothroyd

This one cap wonder for England disappeared off the footballing grid a long time ago but hasn’t given up on scoring goals.

After a number of spells in the Football League at various clubs, it was at Cardiff City where the big striker really came to fruition. He enjoyed a good scoring record for the Bluebirds and almost got them promoted before leaving for Premier League QPR.  

From there it went south for Bothroyd as he left English football and headed for Muangthong United in Thailand.  

He is now playing in Japan with Hokkaido and at the age of 36, he doesn’t look like giving up just yet.

Wes Brown

Another success story of Manchester United’s youth academy who spent over 15 years as a professional at the club before eventually moving on to Sunderland in 2011.  

After an injury-prone five years at Sunderland, the former England international took his five Premier League medals and two Champions League titles with him to be reunited with former Red Devils coach Rene Meulensteen in the Indian Super League with Kerala Blasters.  

This stint in India seems a common theme among aging professionals and it looks like Brown isn’t quite done yet in the twilight of his career.

Florent Sinama Pongolle

This Liverpool academy product has certainly been around the world and back to continue his career in the game.  

After a relatively unspectacular career on Merseyside, where he is only really remembered because of his memorable name, he moved to Recreativo in Spain where he enjoyed one of the best spells of his career, earning a move to Atletico Madrid.  

After that it was short spells wherever he went, taking him to Portugal, France, Russia, and the USA.  

He is currently a free agent after leaving his latest club Chainat Hornbill in Thailand.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/football/7-footballers-who-are-defying-their-age-and-still-playing/ss-BBQ09nd?ocid=chromentp#image=7

[Stan]

Jamie Cureton has been shamefully overlooked here!

[Faithcore]

Inga will be mad as soon as she reads this thread.

[Smiley Culture]

3 minutes ago, Stan said:

Jamie Cureton has been shamefully overlooked here!

This. 43 and player-joint interim manager at Bishop’s Stortford, where a number of the squad are between about 16-24. He’s led them to 6th in the Bostik Premier. 

[nudge]

What, no mention of Claudio Pizarro??? Still playing regularly in one of Europe's top leagues at 40 years old, still fit af, just became Bundesliga's second-oldest scorer in history, 3 goals and 2 assists in 10 matches this season, and has scored each year since 1999! 

[nudge]

Just now, Faithcore said:

Inga will be mad as soon as she reads this thread.

You know me well.

[CaaC (John)+]

9 minutes ago, Stan said:

Jamie Cureton has been shamefully overlooked here!

 

5 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said:

This. 43 and player-joint interim manager at Bishop’s Stortford, where a number of the squad are between about 16-24. He’s led them to 6th in the Bostik Premier. 

 Football life does not end at 43 years old aka Cureton.  

 

Jamie Cureton (born 28 August 1975) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Southern League Premier Division club Bishop's Stortford.

He began his career at Norwich City in 1994, and after the club's relegation from the Premier League at the end of the season, has spent the majority of his career in England's lower leagues, apart from a season at South Korean side Busan I'Cons in 2003. In over 900 appearances in English football, spanning eight tiers of the football pyramid from the Premier League to the Southern League, Cureton has scored more than 300 goals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Cureton

[CaaC (John)+]

9 minutes ago, nudge said:

What, no mention of Claudio Pizarro??? Still playing regularly in one of Europe's top leagues at 40 years old, still fit af, just became Bundesliga's second-oldest scorer in history, 3 goals and 2 assists in 10 matches this season, and has scored each year since 1999! 

 - 40 years old.

Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio (American Spanish: [ˈklauðjo piˈsaro]; born 3 October 1978) is a Peruvian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Werder Bremen and the Peru national team. He is well renowned for his goal-scoring ability, especially when heading the ball.

He has spent most of his career playing in the Bundesliga, having two spells at Bayern Munich and four at Werder Bremen, during which he won 17 trophies, 16 of which occurred at Bayern. On 23 October 2010, Pizarro set a new record for most goals scored by a foreign player in the Bundesliga, surpassing Giovane Élber's record of 132 in a game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. As of 3 March 2016, Pizarro is the fifth highest goalscorer in Bundesliga history with 191 goals.

A full international since 1999, Pizarro represented the Peru national football team at four Copa América tournaments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Pizarro

[Bluebird Hewitt]

On 23/11/2018 at 10:34, Stan said:

Jamie Cureton has been shamefully overlooked here!

Come on Stan. Football doesn't exist outside the top divisions.

[Guest]

German Carty played until about 47, retired last year

[Honey Honey]

@DeadLinesman plays for an hour a week

[DeadLinesman]

1 minute ago, Harvsky said:

@DeadLinesman plays for an hour a week

I will cut you.