Golden
oldies
Nick Bidwell on the players who are
thriving in the twilight of their careers
It may be more than half a decade
since this cunning Argentinian
striker last played his club football
in Europe – where he shone for
eight seasons with Porto and
Lyon – but there is no way anyone
could consider the 36-year-old
“Licha” to be a spent force.
Racing’s captain and standard-
bearer has simply been in quite
irresistible goalscoring form for
the Avellaneda outfit this seasonand he remains extremely confident
that his side will end the campaign
in top spot.
“We’re obliged to win the title,
he explains. “We don’t have an
alternative. We’ll fight to the death
to be champions.”
Having returned to Racing in
December 2015, arriving on a free
from Brazilian side Internacional, he
has recently extended his contract
to the summer of 2020.Claudio
PIZARRO
WERDER BREMEN
At the age of 40 years and 136 days, the
Peruvian striker recently became the
oldest-ever Bundesliga marksman, and
apart from an apprenticeship in his
homeland with Alianza Lima and a short
stint with Chelsea, he has spent the vast
bulk of his professional life in Germany,
enjoying four separate stints in Bremen,
two with Bayern Munich and a loan spell
at Cologne last season.
With almost 200 goals in the German
top flight he has a pedigree of sustained
excellence. He is fifth in the all-time
scoring rankings, is the most prolific
foreign finisher in the league’s history
and is the only Bundesliga player to have
scored in 21 consecutive calendar years.
Powerful in the air and clever in his
off-the-ball movement, he rarely starts
these days but he has lost none of his
enthusiasm for the game and once said:
“I could have had an even better career.”
Guess he’ll just have to make do with
the six Bundesliga titles, six DFB cups and
a Champions League winners medal...Lisandro
LOPEZ
RACING
5656 WORLD SOCCERWORLD SOCCER
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