20 players you thought probably retired years ago
You don't control the universe. Just because you haven't thought of a player for a while doesn't mean he's retired. Plenty of names from yesteryear still stomp the fields every weekend – from a France 98 midfielder to Englishmen plying their trade in far-flung global corners.
Here, we take a look at 20 footballers still kicking a ball around for a living, just perhaps in a dimmer – or distant – spotlight. From MLS and J-League to the burgeoning markets of Malaysia and India, there has never been a better time to be a footballing gun-for-hire, even if you're nudging 40 and your best moments came to a Britpop soundtrack.
DaMarcus Beasley
Beasley made his debut in MLS with Chicago Fire in 2000 and has been back in the USA since 2014 with the Houston Dynamo. He left the Fire to join PSV, where he won two Eredivisie titles; from there he spent a season on loan at Manchester City before winning two league titles in three years with Rangers.
Having been to four World Cups, the left-sider – now 35 – became the first American to feature in five World Cup qualifying cycles with an appearance against Mexico in 2017. He has also won four CONCACAF Gold Cups over his 17-year international career.
Nadir Belhadj
Algerian international Belhadj spent a couple of seasons in England with Portsmouth between 2008 and 2010 before moving to Al-Sadd in Qatar where he has won six major titles, including the AFC Champions League. He scored the winning penalty in the shootout against Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the final in 2011 and was named Qatari Stars Player of the Season in 2014, before a short-lived move back to European football with Sedan in 2016.
Now back in the Middle East with Al-Sailiya, Belhadj – who turns 36 in June – announced his international retirement in 2012, winning 55 caps and representing Algeria at the World Cup in 2010.
Emre Belozoglu
Emre signed for Istanbul minnows Basaksehir following his release from Fenerbahce in 2015. It was seen as one last hurrah before hanging up his boots but it may turn out to be a glorious ending: the team – 10 years younger than Emre himself, who's nudging 38 – are involved in European football's tightest title race, on the back of finishing fourth, fourth and second last time out.
At the heart of it has been a motley crew of free transfers, loan signings and players reportedly well past their sell-by dates – suitably captained by the imperious Emre. Owner of a tremendous left foot, he has been capped 95 times in an 18-year international career which isn't over just yet – after a three-year hiatus, he returned to skipper the side in the October 2017 qualifiers against Ukraine and Iceland.
Jay Bothroyd
Londoner Bothroyd once played 19 minutes for England, coming on as a substitute for Andy Carroll in a friendly match against France at Wembley under Fabio Capello. (Believe it or not, there are 17 players with even shorter England careers.)
Having come through the ranks at Arsenal, Bothroyd was sent to Coventry – in exchange for £1m – following an argument with Don Howe. Three seasons later and Bothroyd was off on the first of his foreign jaunts, with Perugia of Serie A, in what would prove a prelude to a peripatetic career. After leaving Italy for a tour of the Football League (and those precious 19 minutes for England) Bothroyd joined Muangthong United in Thailand before hot-footing it to Japan, first with Jubilo Iwata and more recently with Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, where he’s scored 12 in 14 league starts. He turns 36 in May.
Luciano Figueroa
Figueroa signed for Steve Bruce’s Birmingham City in 2003 after scoring for fun in his native Argentina with Rosario Central – including five in one match against Boca Juniors. To say it didn’t work in the West Midlands for Figueroa would be an understatement. After just two appearances for the Blues, his contract was annulled and he moved to Mexican side Cruz Azul where he re-found his goalscoring touch, earning himself a move back to Europe with Villarreal, the first of 15 caps for Argentina and an Olympic gold medal.
Following spells for River Plate, Genoa, Boca Juniors, Ecuadorian giants Emelec and Panathinaikos, Figueroa moved to the Malaysian Super League side Johor Darul Takzim, winning the league twice before retiring in 2016. He made a return to the Southern Tigers earlier this year though and is already back among the goals, with his side top of the league. He turns 37 in May.
Maynor Figueroa
Honduran international Figueroa joined Wigan in 2008 from Tegucigalpa side Olimpia, spending five years with the Latics and winning the FA Cup before joining Hull City. In his five full seasons with Wigan he became a mainstay in the team, taking part in 179 Premier League matches. Following half a dozen games on loan back at Wigan in 2014, he now plays his football in MLS with FC Dallas, winning the US Open Cup in 2016.
Turning 35 in May, Figueroa is nearing 150 international caps with Honduras and has represented Los Catrachos at two World Cups, four CONCACAF Gold Cups and the Olympic Games in 2012.
Diego Forlan
Despite nearing 39 years of age, the former Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Inter Milan striker Forlan is still knocking them in: upon moving to Hong Kong outfit Kitchee from Indian Super League side Mumbai City in January, he promptly banged in five goals in his first four starts.
No stranger to economic migrancy, before moving to Hong Kong he had already played in eight different countries, starting at the age of 15 when he left Uruguay for major Argentinian outfit Independiente. There he caught Sir Alex Ferguson's eye, later switching to Spain (Villarreal, Atletico) and Italy (Inter) before recrossing the Atlantic to Brazilian side Internacional in 2012.
A spell in Japan with Cerezo Osaka was followed before winning the Uruguayan title with boyhood club Penarol. From there it was off to Mumbai and then Hong Kong – and you wouldn't bet against him taking his boots to pastures new: perhaps his passport says "goalscorer".
Hossam Ghaly
Now 36 and enjoying his fourth spell with Cairo giants Al-Ahly, Ghaly spent six years of his twenties with Feyenoord, Spurs and Derby County. It never really happened for Ghaly in Europe, with the Egyptian international infamous for falling out with coaches and team-mates alike, and appeared more in lists of Spurs’ ‘worst ever signings’ than in the actual team.
Roundly booed by the Tottenham support as he warmed up during an FA Cup match against Wigan, he was shipped out to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr shortly after. He’s had a decent career nonetheless, winning 70 caps and an African Cup of Nations title for the Pharaohs and the African Champions League for Ahly, Africa’s most-decorated club.
Tim Howard
After 13 years in English football with Manchester United and Everton, Howard returned home to the USA in 2016 to captain the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer.
Slightly unfortunate to be the goalkeeper at Old Trafford between Fabien Barthez and Edwin van der Sar, Howard became the second American to win the FA Cup and the first in over a century when United beat Millwall in the 2004 Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. He spent over a decade at Everton before his move to the Rapids.
Now 39, Howard is the proud owner of 121 USA caps and winners' medals from the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2007 and 2017.
Robbie Keane
Shortly after his 37th birthday last July, Robbie Keane was signed by Indian Super League club ATK in Kolkata. Manager Teddy Sheringham immediately made him club captain, but lost his job after just three wins in 10 matches. When interim manager Ashley Westwood left his post following six straight defeats, Keane replaced him for the final game of the season; the player-captain-manager duly scored the only goal of the match as he led the team to their first win in nearly three months.
ATK followed up that win with a convincing victory over Chennai City in the AIFF Super Cup to set up a tie against Goa in the quarter-finals. Naturally, Keane scored. If he carries on like this he'll be chairman by Christmas.
Massimo Maccarone
Boro have signed their fair share of dud strikers over the years – step forward Afonso Alves, Kris Boyd and Mido for starters. But they thought they'd signed the future in 2002, when they paid Empoli a shade over £8m for the 22-year-old Maccarone. Having top-scored at the 2002 U21 Euros, he had recently become the first Italian player in 70 years to be capped without playing in the top flight.
But he struggled to settle on Teesside, and was loaned back to homeland clubs Parma and Siena. He became a minor cult hero for scoring crucial late goals in Boro's run to the 2006 UEFA Cup Final, but the club were happy to sell him to Siena in 2007. Spells with Palermo, Sampdoria and Empoli followed before a move to the A League with Brisbane Roar in 2017; he's still scoring for them, at 38 years old.
Tyrone Mears
Mears played for West Ham, Derby, Preston and Burnley in the Premier League before a move Stateside in 2015 to play for the Seattle Sounders. It's not his first foreign adventure: the Stockport-born defender joined Marseille on loan for 2008/09, despite going on trial with the French giants without the permission of his Derby boss Paul Jewell, who promptly fined the player six weeks’ wages. Marseille signed him but he found his playing time limited, making just seven appearances.
That being said, he made his debut in Le Classique against PSG and scored an extra-time winner in the Europa League to book the club’s passage into the quarter-finals of the competition at the expense of Ajax. Mears won the MLS Cup with the Sounders in 2016, spent last season with Atlanta United and now, aged 35, plays his football for new MLS franchise Minnesota United.
Shunsuke Nakamura
It’s hard to believe that it’s almost a decade since Nakamura left Celtic with three Scottish Premier League titles and three cups in his four seasons in Glasgow. He arrived at a difficult time for the Bhoys, with the club already out of European competitions after a 5-0 humbling against Artmedia Bratislava. Nakamura was named Man of the Match on his debut and is credited with turning their season around, with Celtic finishing it as champions and winners of the Scottish League Cup. A folk hero was born.
An underwhelming season with Espanyol in La Liga followed those glory years in Glasgow and he returned home to Yokohama in 2010. Still playing for Jubilo Iwata even if he turns 40 in June, Nakamura is in the top ten all-time lists for appearances and goals for the national team and helped Japan to AFC Asian Cup glory in 2000 and 2004.
Shinji Ono
Ono made his professional debut in 1998, with the impact he made in his first season with Urawa Red Diamonds enough to win a call-up to the national team for the World Cup in France. He moved from Urawa Red Diamonds to Feyenoord and helped the Rotterdam side to the 2002 UEFA Cup, becoming the first Japanese player to win a major European trophy in the process.
After a couple of trophy-spangled years back with Urawa, he joined Bundesliga side Bochum for three underwhelming seasons. He later joined Shimizu S-Pulse before becoming Western Sydney Wanderers' marquee player. Now 38, he's still turning out for Consadole Sapporo, although he hasn't scored a league goal since 2015.
Zesh Rehman
Brummie Rehman bounced around the Football League, playing for Fulham, Brighton, Norwich, QPR, Bradford and Blackpool before moving to Asia in 2011, initially with Robbie Fowler-coached Thai outfit Muangthong United. After a season in Thailand, Rehman moved to Hong Kong with Kitchee and then onto Pahang. There he won a cup treble of Malaysian Cup, Super Cup and FA Cup in 2014, before helping the Elephants to the quarter-finals of the continental AFC Cup.
After a short spell back home with Gillingham, he joined Hong Kong outfit Southern, where he's still rumbling about at the age of 34. His greatest career achievement was captaining Pakistan, playing for them in World Cup 2010 qualification.
Carlos Salcido
Despite rapidly approaching 38 years of age, former Fulham defender Carlos Salcido is still going strong with CD Guadalajara in his home state of Jalisco. Pleasingly, it's a full-circle story: having made his professional debut with them in 2001 and played there for his first five years, he returned in 2014 and captained the Goats to a league and cup double last year.
In between times, he won two Eredivisie titles with PSV – the first Mexican to be a Dutch champion – and spent a year at Fulham before a burglary at his home unsettled his family and prompted a return to Mexico, where he bagged a host of trophies with Tigres and then Guadalajara. His 124 caps put him seventh on Mexico's all-time list, and he won the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup the year before Olympic gold in London.
Phillipe Senderos
Former Arsenal, Everton, Fulham, Aston Villa and Rangers centre back Senderos plays his football for the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer alongside fellow Premier League alumnus DaMarcus Beasley. His start at Arsenal wasn’t quite the dream it could’ve been following his move from hometown club Servette. A back injury followed by a broken bone in his foot meant that Senderos missed the whole season – meaning he played no part as the Gunners went unbeaten and won the Premier League.
Indeed, across seven years in north London Senderos made just 64 Premier League appearances, and won one FA Cup. Loans at Milan and Everton preceded spells at Fulham, Valencia and Villa. Selected 57 times by Switzerland, Senderos – who turned 33 in February – has captained his country and played in three World Cups, although he was omitted from the Euro 2016 squad and hasn't won a cap since.
Florent Sinama-Pongolle
Football fame came early to Florent Sinama-Pongolle. At the U17 World Cup in 2001, he scored nine times, won the Golden Ball, led France to their first title – and earned a move to Liverpool, alongside cousin Anthony Le Tallec. It would be hard to fulfil that early promise, and it's fair to say he didn't.
Following spells in Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland, the USA, Russia and Scotland – none of them exactly stuffed with goals: only at Recreativo Huelva did he break into double figures, with 22 in 71 – he has found happiness late in life with a move to Thai side Chainat Hornbill. Although he couldn't stop them being relegated from the top flight, his 14 goals helped fire them back to promotion as champions.
Ron Vlaar
Vlaar was excellent for the Dutch national side in their run to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2014, leading to links with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Juventus and Lazio. With a year left on his Aston Villa contract, the former Feyenoord man decided to stay – but a series of injuries prevented him from playing a significant role during the 2014/15 season, after which his contract elapsed.
Despite stating he wished to stay at Villa, and the club offering him new terms, he remained unemployed until the December – when former club AZ handed him a deal to the end of the season and a further two-year contract at the end of it. That deal ends this summer, when the 33-year-old – who missed three months in late 2017 with knee problems, and has struggled to regain his place since – will be available on a free transfer.
Xavi
Despite looking at least a decade younger than his 38 years, Xavi only just makes this list: he's set to retire at the end of the current Qatari season in April to pursue a career in coaching, with his dream being to take charge of Barcelona. Obviously.
Xavi has won everything in a glittering career, helping the Spanish national team to two European Championships and a World Cup – making the Team of the Tournament in all three – and was the beating heart of an all-conquering Barcelona side that many proclaim as the greatest team to ever play the game.
He left Catalonia in 2015 following 869 appearances, four Champions Leagues, two Club World Cups, eight Liga titles and a host of other trophies and accolades. His winning didn’t stop there – he helped Al-Saad to three trophies in 2017.
