Yesterday, the Swedish Zlatan Ibrahimovic (41 years old) became the second oldest player to play in a European Cup qualifier in football, during his country’s loss to its host, Belgium, 0-3. Sweden coach Yanni Anderson pushed AC Milan striker in the 73rd minute to replace Newcastle striker Alexander Isaac, at the age of 41 years and 172 days.
At first, Zlatan, born on October 3, 1981, was considered the oldest player to play a match in the continental qualifiers, but it turned out that the Gibraltar player Lee Cacharo, born on September 29, 1981, had broken the record during his country’s Friday match against Greece at the age of 41 and 176. days. But Zlatan is still ahead of the previous record holder, Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff, who played against Sweden on May 29, 1983 at the age of 41 years, three months and one day.
Last week, Zlatan became the oldest player to score a goal in the Italian League. He insisted at the beginning of the week that he wanted to play the 2024 European Cup finals in Germany (if his country qualified), when he would be forty-two years old, to become the oldest player to play in the finals.
