As football fans, we have seen many unforgettable periods of football and the most famous football players in the world. Although they have passed the peak of their careers, they still left an indelible impression on their fans. Today, let's take a look at the top 10 football veteran players over the age of 35 in the world.
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10. Joaquin Sanchez
Source: Bongda
Joaquin was born on July 21, 1980. After two seasons with Fiorentina (2013-2015), Joaquin returned to Spain to play for Real Betis. Despite past the peak of his career, Joaquin did very diligently and aggressively.
Until La Liga 2019/20 was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Joaquin had scored 10 goals in 28 appearances. In addition, the 38-year-old midfielder also became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in La Liga this season.
9. Franck Ribery
Source: Bundesliga
During his peak period, Ribery was a "nightmare" for all defenders. At Bayern Munich, he and Arjen Robben became a pair of attacking wings that could destroy all defenses.
After 12 years playing for Bayern, Ribery decided to go to Serie A. Even at the age of 37, Ribery still shows the level of a star and left a mark with 2 goals and 2 assists after 11 games before getting injured.
8. Zlatan ibrahimovic
It can be said that Ibrahimovic is one of the greatest strikers of his generation. Ibrahimovic's illustrious career is associated with a series of famous clubs such as Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona, PSG, and Manchester United.
Now 38 years old, Ibra is still very useful to AC Milan. Returning to the San Siro Stadium after the expiration of the contract with LA Galaxy, Ibra scored 4 goals and became the mainstay of the Milan attack. He even helped Milan sell more tickets and helped this team dream about a ticket to the European Cup next season. Recently it was reported that Milan was willing to maintain Ibra's salary despite the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and invited him to stay for another year.
7. Thiago silva
Over the years, Thiago Silva has remained stable and has become one of the best midfielders in the world. The Brazilian player possesses aerial skills and especially the ability to read situations and cover very impressively. In addition, Thiago also knows how to "lead" his teammates in the dressing room with many personalities at PSG.
Not only good defense, Thiago Silva also has a passing rate of 95.3% success rate. He is also a strong fulcrum so that attackers can safely score goals. Averaging 9 Silva matches, Chelsea has an average of 2.6 goals/game.
6. Alessandro Del Piero
Del Piero is the highest monument in Juventus history. The striker was born in 1974 as the most played player for Juventus with 705 matches. He is also the club's greatest goalscorer with 290 goals. Del Piero is also the only Juventus player ever to win the Italian Footballer of the Year award twice in 1998 and 2008. In addition, Del Piero has held the record for most Juventus goals in a Champions League season with 10 phases in the 1997/98 season.
Del Piero has scored 27 goals in 91 caps for Italy, and Roberto Baggio (27 goals / 56 matches) are the two Juventus players who have scored the most goals for the Azzurri.
5. Rivaldo
Source: Football Times
Rivaldo played for a total of 14 clubs in a career spanning 24 years, scoring more than 350 goals in total. The player has played for big clubs but has also played for many modestly known clubs, such as Kabuscorp of Angola or Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan.
Rivaldo just retired at the age of 43, after almost 24 years playing football. He is a legend because, in the history of world football and Brazilian football, Rivaldo has left an indelible impression.
4. Dennis Bergkamp
Source: Premier League
Dennis Bergkamp is a football player with superb techniques like ball-handling skills. During his football career, Bergkamp won 3 scorer titles, and 1 Dutch football championship. Along with that, he has 2 UEFA Europa League titles and 3 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups.
Not stopping there, Bergkamp also achieved many other noble titles such as the best football player in the Netherlands in 1992 and 1993, the European bronze ball in 1993, the best player in English football in 1998, ...
3. Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Beckenbauer is the "Emperor" of the football world. He is known for his professional ball control technique. Before joining Argentina, Beckenbauer was a famous defender of the Bayern-German team. He is considered the soul of Bayern.
He was born on September 11, 1945. During his football career, this former Argentine player won three consecutive Bundesliga titles and three C1 championships in the early 70s. Besides, he also won the Euro 1972 championship and the 1974 World Cup.
2. Diego Forlan
Diego Forlan started his career at the Atlético Independiente club and won the Pichichi title with 25 goals. Then, Forlan moved to the Atletico Madrid team and won the title of top scorer.
In the final years of his career, Forlan successfully competed in the Uruguayan caps with a total of 27 goals. In particular, he also brought the team to the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup tournament in South Africa and achieved the title of Golden Ball in the World Cup.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
In the summer of 2018, Juventus had to spend up to 100 million euros to buy Ronaldo from Real Madrid. At that time, Ronaldo was 33 years old and the price that Juventus paid for a player at that age made people surprised. However, Ronaldo showed that he still has enough strength to play at the top and meets the expectations.
In the 2019/20 season, the Portuguese captain has scored 25 goals. Including 21 goals in Serie A and 4 in other leagues. In addition, Ronaldo has broken many records this season, including scoring in 11 consecutive matches in Serie A. He is also the second player after Alexis Sanchez scored a hat-trick in the Premier League, LaLiga and Serie A.
With the ability to hunt for goals, even though he is over 35 years old, Ronaldo is still able to contribute more. As for Juventus, fans of the Serie A championship team hope that he will help the home team win the Champions League title after many years of waiting. The last time Juventus was crowned in this arena came in the 1995/96 season.
Football is a continuation of many generations. In the future, new names will appear. They will continue to promote and set new career records with the ball and the pitch.
The above are the list of top 10 famous players over the age of 35. Although some people no longer play football, their influence in world football is still enormous today until now.
