About the best age players in Europe.
Luka Modric impresses everyone, but with one caveat
This September, the Croatian will turn 38, and he is still not only Real Madrid’s best midfielder, but one of the best in the world. Even now Luka manages to collect enthusiastic exclamations in training and during matches. The world championship that took place at the end of last year is another confirmation that Modric is not submissive to age. Luca was among the nominees for the Best Player Award and helped his team win the bronze medals of the tournament.
According to the information of mass media, Real Madrid don’t quite understand why the midfielder, who is about to turn 38, has not yet completed his international career. Participation in national team matches adds about 10 matches to the calendar year, thus complicating the players’ recovery process. Despite his workload and age, Luka was named the healthiest player in the “creamy” in 2022. It was Modric who spent the least time in the infirmary.
The Spanish edition of Marca reports that the Croatian is hurt by constant talk about his age in the context of a new contract with Real Madrid. Luca’s current contract expires next summer and an offer for an extension has yet to be submitted. The player’s age is the cause of everything, this is the reason for Modric’s indignation: he believes he is well prepared and doesn’t think that talking about his age in the context of discussing a new contract is right.
Giroud was the main player of the national team at 36 and Ibrahimovic was also fit at 41
At the World Cup in Qatar, the 36-year-old striker of the French national team did very well and was the backbone of the team. He relied on pressure and team building when fighting a team with low blocking, which has happened more than once.
In connection with the departure of Hugo Lloris from the national team and the end of performances for the national team of Benzema and Varane, Olivier became one of the main contenders for the captain’s armband. Apparently, he has no intention of following his deceased partners:
“I’m not ready to leave the national team and take off this blue shirt, which is so close to my heart. No, no, nothing’s finished yet. I hope we will have many emotions ahead of us ”.
Giroud’s level of play and value changed throughout his career: the older he got, the more important he became to the clubs he played for. In 2021 Milan paid €3 million for his transfer from Chelsea. Since then, the Frenchman has played more than 60 matches and scored more than 30 goals. Even this season he doesn’t slow down: 22 games, 7 goals and 4 assists.
For a quality game, Milan rewarded their striker with a new contract. Although Giroud wanted to sign a new deal until the summer of 2025, the Rossoneri offered him a contract until 2024, and Olivier wasn’t fazed at all.
Another AC Milan striker, 41-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic, has recently recovered from an injury that sidelined him for 9 months, but even that has failed to stop the Swedish striker. In the Serie A round 24 match against Atalanta, Ibrahimovic came on aged 41 years and 146 days, becoming the team’s oldest player to play in Serie A since 1994.
In the process of recovering, he had lessons with the AC Milan youth team and even trained with his 16-year-old son Maximilian Zlatan. Their rivals in the training match were the players of the Rossoneri first team, who did not play in the 1/8 Champions League match against Tottenham.
Pepe is cool even though he just turned 40
The Portuguese centre-back continues to hold the level. In the last three club seasons, Pepe has broken the record of more than 20 matches played and this season it looks like he will also play the same number. He has played 14 games so far, but the most important part of the season is still ahead, and for Porto the player is very important.
It is also important for the Portuguese national team. His connection with Ruben Dias brings results for the team and the player himself breaks records. After playing against the Uruguay national team aged 39 years and 275 days, Pepe became the third-oldest outfield player in World Cup history. Only the Cameroonian Roger Milla (42 years and 39 days) was older than him. world Cup-1994) and Canadian Atiba Hutchinson (39 years and 294 days world Cup-2022). After scoring a goal against Switzerland, Pepe became the oldest goalscorer in the World Cup playoffs.
Perhaps these were not Pepe’s last performances in the Arabian Peninsula. The Portuguese’s contract expires in the summer of 2023 and he has no intention of ending his career. In this regard, Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently moved to Al-Nasr, is trying to convince his former Real Madrid teammate to join him.
Thiago moved to England at the age of 35 and became one of the best there
In the summer of 2020, Chelsea signed Thiago Silva without expecting the Brazilian to be able to play at such a high level for so long. All this time, the defender is the main one among the “aristocrats” and has become the undisputed leader of the team.
Despite his age, Thiago is very important for Chelsea: he has 2178 minutes in 25 games this season. Every year he becomes more and more important for the club: in the first 20 games of the 20/21 season he played 1009 minutes in Premier Leaguein the next campaign in a similar period he had 1105 minutes, in this one – 1376.
In the summer of 2021, Silva set himself the goal of playing until the age of 40-41, taking as an example Paolo Maldini, with whom the Brazilian played for Milan. Thiago will turn 39 in September and Chelsea recently extended his contract until the summer of 2024.
“Of course, I don’t want to finish my career either this year or next. Let’s see what happens in the future, maybe I’ll become a coach or just work in football, which I love so much.” – quotes the words of the Brazilian club mass media after signing the contract.
