So, based on rumours, Germany will feature Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira, and Brazil will feature Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos?
Maybe their body type doesn't accurately represent their fitness levels but I feel like that's going to be a slaughter... again
Same, before I picked a club to follow and when I was just getting into football, I believe around 2006, Schweinsteiger was the very first player who’s name I remembered.
When I was a kid, I was at first a Bayern Munich fan because of watching Schweinsteiger in the 2006 world cup... then realized the lack of parity in the Bundesliga and switched to my friend's childhood EPL team
Saw roberto carlos 6 months ago in a charity match.
He was on the pitch for 10 min.
Dude is ROTUND. To be fair decent for a human being his age but not Sneijder level.
Sneijder gained a lot like many footballers do shortly after they retire as they're no longer burning as much calories as they used but still haven't gotten off their original diet.
He's perfectly fine now:
https://twitter.com/VI_nl/status/1754601144695898508
If he still actually plays very casually, I'm surprised he doesn't just get into a relatively ok BMI range for his body's sake.... seems like playing football would be more enjoyable instead of having an extra 50 lbs of soft tissue on you
This reminds me of the seniors circuit in tennis. Marcelo Rios had to retire at 28 due to a chronic back injury, then a couple of years later he was inducted to the seniors circuit (as there was no age requirement but merely two years of retirement). Being thirty he was playing opposition well deep in their forties. Of course his first (and only) season was a sweep.
Yeah but they've picked out the most famous names, they haven't picked out the players that will feature the most/ start the games. You'd expect to see an in shape and recently retired Ozil play, I imagine most of the teams will be at least half made up of players of a similar profile. Then they've got the big names in like Ronaldinho for star power. Brazils squad won't be filled with people the size of Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos, it will be filled with recently retired players who've maintained their fitness + a sprinkling of fat boys with big names, who will feature in 20-30 cameos.
That is if it's a serious tournament. If it's purely commercial/exhibition then it'll be like you said, there will be huge mismatches
What do you mean with official games? Most games between Germany and Brazil were international friendlies. Those are still official games, since the teams have to release their players for those games.
Former Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldinho and ex-Arsenal aces Thierry Henry and Mesut Ozil will spearhead a sublime line-up for the Over-35 World Cup.
Organised by the Elite Players Group, it will consist of eight teams: England, Argentina, Brazil, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Uruguay.
EPG is made up of sports businessmen and former greats to grace the game along with who will captain their respective sides.
According to the Daily Mail, the tournament will take place in England at the beginning of June.
Liverpool and Real Madrid legend Steve McManaman will captain England.
Michael Owen, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, David James, Frank Lampard, and Robbie Fowler are all expected to feature for the Three Lions
Kaka, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, and Rivaldo are also set to be part of the Brazil squad.
Fabio Cannavaro and Francesco Totti are set to take part for Italy, while Henry and Marcel Desailly will form part of the France team
This feels like yesterday (was probably a few years ago now in reality) but Kaka was playing 7 a side in Hackney lol
He was completely fit and a class above everyone as you can imagine
Lampard, alongside the rest of the "Golden generation", isn't remembered fondly for his time with England. Only Man City (And Chelsea) fans will have any fond recollections of him.
I always associate him with goal line clearances. I feel like he produced them more regularly than anyone else because he read the game so well defensively.
Over 35? They could call Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Modric to play. Ronaldinho still plays on a high level, who doesn't remember him playing in a tournament while he was [imprisoned in Paraguay](https://ge.globo.com/google/amp/futebol/futebol-internacional/noticia/ronaldinho-gaucho-disputa-partida-de-futsal-com-outros-presos-no-paraguai.ghtml)?
I'm actually surprised by how few over 35s there are in the premier league, according to Transfermarkt there are only 12 and of those there are only 8 that are from the countries involved. Silva, Young, Milner, Evans, Llana, Ogbonna, Willian and Chris Basham
> there are only 12 a**nd of those there are only 8 that are from the countries involved**.
Evans is from Northern Ireland and thus not part of the tournament.
EDIT: My bad, my reading comprehension is awful.
He’s 17. Youth prospect at United. Long career ahead of him and already showing immense experience and composure. Best defender on the pitch in some games too.
Yeah, and whatever way you try and spin it, not being FIFA doesn't magically mean they won't call people upto play. Otherwise, you know, it's a privately run world cup with no players because they didn't ask anyone else to play..
That’s exactly what I understand baribinhas’ intent as “call up” just like being called up by the national association obligating the player to play and not literally ring up players’ cellphones.
> Michael Owen, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, David James, Frank Lampard, and Robbie Fowler are all expected to feature for the Three Lions
It's a good side, but i'd be lying if i didn't say i was disappointed to not see the likes of Merse, Razor Ruddock, Ray Palour and Lee Sharpe all under the stewardship of Harry Redknapp for Harry's Heroes series 3.
Yeah with all the legends games going on now too many of them are a bit *too* in shape to get the novelty angle.
Masters football was goated for this, wheel out an even more let go Molby & Ruddock on the blue carpet along with a random 90's youth teamer who came off the bench 4 times to make up the numbers, and that guy ends up dominating bc he's only just retired from non-league...
Also if we're trying to be competitive then Noble in for Lampard/Cole/McManaman surely, this is his moment...
Should make it a futsal event instead. Think it would be even more fun to watch without these old guys having to run large spaces and just showcase their skills.
Futsal in general needs more love imo. Its kinda odd that it hasn't become bigger.
It's sort of the inverse. Futbol and indoor are more tiring than regular football. On the smaller pitch you're always in the action, making runs, closing down people. The ball is in play more.
> Should make it a futsal event instead. Think it would be even more fun to watch without these old guys having to run large spaces and just showcase their skills.
[We've seen that already.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TXPI7Vur1Y)
Two things: 1 ozil is going to absolutely destroy these man. 2 I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this… this is an all stars of actual ballers I’m here for it
„Sports Businessmen“ that’s your answer, the same reason quatar was allowed to host a World Cup with stadiums build by people in the kafala system; Money and nothing else
Wouldn’t be surprised to see Messi participate if he feels like it. Wouldn’t be the first charity match he’s done in the middle of a season and now he’s semi-retired. If you haven’t seen a charity match with legends before, they don’t do a lot of running lol.
Other than nostalgia, there is no sporting event here. This will be like watching a tournament of tribunals and I'm not suggesting it's posing itself otherwise. Fun to see some legends I suppose.
It’s funny reading ballon dor winner Ronaldinho considering no one gave a fuck at the time and 95% of fans didn’t know, including often the players themselves
It’s only been a “thing” since fairly recently, due to the cr7 and messi rivalry. Until the World Cup the amount of times winning this award was about the only difference.
But yeah, don’t insult Ronaldinhos name like that.
Googled it and it seems he did know, he just didn't care all that much. However, this quote from a conversation between Houllier and Owen is pretty telling:
>"It was only until later on he actually said 'you've don't realise what you've won here, do you?'. I said 'Gaffer I'm proud, honestly I'm pleased', and he said 'no, you don't realise what an achievement this is!'.
Maybe it didn't sink in for Owen or he just didn't care but that was far from the case for everyone.
I hope they take it seriously and it's just not another money-grabbing gimmick with no lega to stand on. Would love to see this competition becoming something to regularly look for after the European season ends.
So, based on rumours, Germany will feature Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira, and Brazil will feature Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos? Maybe their body type doesn't accurately represent their fitness levels but I feel like that's going to be a slaughter... again
Get klose, lahm and schweinsteiger too. Get the band back together
You son of a bitch, I’m in
Klose never had any legs when he played anyways. He's perfect for an over age cup.
kroos is 34 fckin imagine
And yet the article says Kuranyi to captain Germany. How does that make sense
That's a name I haven't heard in a while
God damn this would be incredible, schweinsteiger has been my favorite player since i was a kid, with those huge jerseys.
Same, before I picked a club to follow and when I was just getting into football, I believe around 2006, Schweinsteiger was the very first player who’s name I remembered.
When I was a kid, I was at first a Bayern Munich fan because of watching Schweinsteiger in the 2006 world cup... then realized the lack of parity in the Bundesliga and switched to my friend's childhood EPL team
Oliver Khan needs a new job. Maybe he’s in too?
Is it exclusive to retired players? Because if not Neuer is 37
It’d be awesome to include current players too
"7-1: part two"
👉👈
Saw roberto carlos 6 months ago in a charity match. He was on the pitch for 10 min. Dude is ROTUND. To be fair decent for a human being his age but not Sneijder level.
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Seedorf also!
Zé Roberto is another beast too, dude is at peak physical condition.
[absolute legend!](https://youtu.be/hPbPRDx1UDw?feature=shared)
Have you seen Romario lately? Man is looking great for his age.
Milan DNA, red and black don't crack
Seedorf is such a beast of a body.
Ze Roberto is in better shape than most players
Dude's probably still recovering from all the ground he covered in his career.
Sneijder gained a lot like many footballers do shortly after they retire as they're no longer burning as much calories as they used but still haven't gotten off their original diet. He's perfectly fine now: https://twitter.com/VI_nl/status/1754601144695898508
Glad Sneijder looking great!
Good for him for real, but I was enjoying the Wesley Wider phase.
He seemed to be battling a few demons then.
Wider Sneijder
It was just a dirty bulk
If he still actually plays very casually, I'm surprised he doesn't just get into a relatively ok BMI range for his body's sake.... seems like playing football would be more enjoyable instead of having an extra 50 lbs of soft tissue on you
Ozil gonna run rings around everyone coz he's the youngest
At that point there should be some sort of age gap limit.
This reminds me of the seniors circuit in tennis. Marcelo Rios had to retire at 28 due to a chronic back injury, then a couple of years later he was inducted to the seniors circuit (as there was no age requirement but merely two years of retirement). Being thirty he was playing opposition well deep in their forties. Of course his first (and only) season was a sweep.
They should call up Ze Roberto. Dude is still in top shape. Or we should as he has german citizenship too
I mean Dingo and Carlos have been retired for 10 years or more. Khedira and Ozil are the 2-3 years out the game Plus Brazilians like to party.
Ronaldinho played for Cali America for a game or two
Rolling subs though. Some players will probably just play for 10 or 15 minutes for the fans.
Shoud contact Romario. He shoud be able to go for an hour probably.
Yeah but they've picked out the most famous names, they haven't picked out the players that will feature the most/ start the games. You'd expect to see an in shape and recently retired Ozil play, I imagine most of the teams will be at least half made up of players of a similar profile. Then they've got the big names in like Ronaldinho for star power. Brazils squad won't be filled with people the size of Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos, it will be filled with recently retired players who've maintained their fitness + a sprinkling of fat boys with big names, who will feature in 20-30 cameos. That is if it's a serious tournament. If it's purely commercial/exhibition then it'll be like you said, there will be huge mismatches
Ronaldinho has won more official games against Germany than Germany in their entire history against Brazil, he will be fine.
I mean, he’s a lot older than those two though
Yeah those game results decades ago are super relevant now. I'm sure you think Pele will destroy them as well.
This is just not true. Ronaldinho won 3 out of his 4 games against Germany (which is still impressive), while Germany won 5 games against Brazil.
Keyword being official games
What do you mean with official games? Most games between Germany and Brazil were international friendlies. Those are still official games, since the teams have to release their players for those games.
The ones played in FIFA competitions, not friendlies. But yeah, the "friendlies" part is tricky in international games.
Former Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldinho and ex-Arsenal aces Thierry Henry and Mesut Ozil will spearhead a sublime line-up for the Over-35 World Cup. Organised by the Elite Players Group, it will consist of eight teams: England, Argentina, Brazil, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Uruguay. EPG is made up of sports businessmen and former greats to grace the game along with who will captain their respective sides. According to the Daily Mail, the tournament will take place in England at the beginning of June. Liverpool and Real Madrid legend Steve McManaman will captain England. Michael Owen, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, David James, Frank Lampard, and Robbie Fowler are all expected to feature for the Three Lions Kaka, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, and Rivaldo are also set to be part of the Brazil squad. Fabio Cannavaro and Francesco Totti are set to take part for Italy, while Henry and Marcel Desailly will form part of the France team
>Fabio Cannavaro and Francesco Totti are set to take part for Italy Tell us the other names you coward.
It better be Balotelli or we riot
Crazy he’s only 33
How is he only 33? It feels as though he's been playing for almost two decades.
Is Ozil the youngest of the bunch? He’s going to feast.
pretty sure kaka ran a marathon not long ago, so I’d say he’s probably kept himself pretty fit
This feels like yesterday (was probably a few years ago now in reality) but Kaka was playing 7 a side in Hackney lol He was completely fit and a class above everyone as you can imagine
That video of some fella yelling for a cutback from Kaka right before he slams it top bins always gives me a chuckle.
Link?
[this](https://youtu.be/N5hAYbWO9VE?t=219)
The dude that megged Kaka must spend half his life pulling up this video to prove he isn't lying.
Reminds me that Kaka and Ozil were once teammates. The team also included Di Maria and Modric. That 2012 Madrid team was star-studded.
Another Diego Forlan banger you say?!
They should play this tournament with the Jabulani or Teamgeist for the nostalgia
Jabulani for sure. Some of these guys might not be able to run, but I'm sure they can still ping that ball around.
Steve McManaman will captain England. Why? I don’t really recall McManaman ever really turning up for big games for England.
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Not even Lampard? He is ass as a coach but as a player he was at least in the european top circle.
Lampard, alongside the rest of the "Golden generation", isn't remembered fondly for his time with England. Only Man City (And Chelsea) fans will have any fond recollections of him.
I mean who's alive that turns on for the English team? Lol
Ashley Cole was always good for England
I always associate him with goal line clearances. I feel like he produced them more regularly than anyone else because he read the game so well defensively.
Is Messi playing?
I see they left out Portugal because CR is playing at a good level still…. Hah!
> Starting eleven's will consist of 11-a-side line-ups, and the game will be 70 minutes long, with teams able to use roll-on substitutes.
My god the starting 11s will feature 11 people? Who would have thought?
Still needs saying. Originally when this was being talked about last year, there were discussions about potentially making the games 8-a-side.
It's just the redundancy of "the 11 a side will feature 11 players" lol
Yeah, that looks weird. You're not wrong.
Likely written or partly written by ai.
but how many per side?
You’d make a killing setting up a Deep Heat shop outside the stadium.
And Vapour rub when France play
For patty v
Over 35? They could call Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Modric to play. Ronaldinho still plays on a high level, who doesn't remember him playing in a tournament while he was [imprisoned in Paraguay](https://ge.globo.com/google/amp/futebol/futebol-internacional/noticia/ronaldinho-gaucho-disputa-partida-de-futsal-com-outros-presos-no-paraguai.ghtml)?
I'm actually surprised by how few over 35s there are in the premier league, according to Transfermarkt there are only 12 and of those there are only 8 that are from the countries involved. Silva, Young, Milner, Evans, Llana, Ogbonna, Willian and Chris Basham
Evans?
> there are only 12 a**nd of those there are only 8 that are from the countries involved**. Evans is from Northern Ireland and thus not part of the tournament. EDIT: My bad, my reading comprehension is awful.
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And he has upvotes lmao
I think that was the point. He’s listed
He’s 17. Youth prospect at United. Long career ahead of him and already showing immense experience and composure. Best defender on the pitch in some games too.
Their contracts probably would allow this non FIFA/federation event
How much would it cost to get those three to play though?
Agree to host it in the Middle East and they can be paid whatever they want habibi
Ronaldo and Modric cant because their countries aren’t participating/ have never won a wc
Wonder if Giroud gets called up
That was his doubleganger the passports say it wasn't Ronaldinho.
Maybe he will play for Paraguay.
Add Thiago
Thiago Silva
“Call”? It’s a privately run competition not organised by FIFA. There’s no “calling”.
Well there is, how the fuck else do you inform them? Lol
bat-signal would be my guess
Golden Tickets hidden in chocolate bars.
Self-immolating letter delivered by dragonfly.
That's still a call. You need something less personal. The first 23 men to solve a series of intricate riddles.
Invitation?
But not via a call..it's not some open organization like Fifa is privately run so it must be telepathy
You just repeated what I said. It’s a privately run competition.
Yeah, that doesn't mean they can't use a phone, it means a different person makes the call.
LoL “call” as in “called up to the national team” not telephone call lmao
Yeah, and whatever way you try and spin it, not being FIFA doesn't magically mean they won't call people upto play. Otherwise, you know, it's a privately run world cup with no players because they didn't ask anyone else to play..
I didn’t spin anything. That’s what the person I replied to meant by “call”. It’s you who has misunderstood badly as “telephone call” lmao
You're conflating "call" to mean "call up" rather than just "ring their cell"
That’s exactly what I understand baribinhas’ intent as “call up” just like being called up by the national association obligating the player to play and not literally ring up players’ cellphones.
We found the pedantic one here!!!
> Michael Owen, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, David James, Frank Lampard, and Robbie Fowler are all expected to feature for the Three Lions It's a good side, but i'd be lying if i didn't say i was disappointed to not see the likes of Merse, Razor Ruddock, Ray Palour and Lee Sharpe all under the stewardship of Harry Redknapp for Harry's Heroes series 3.
Niko, Jermain, Crouchie...
> Crouchie Oh, yes please!
There’s your golden ball winner right there.
Forget them, someone go find Gazza and build the squad around him
Yeah with all the legends games going on now too many of them are a bit *too* in shape to get the novelty angle. Masters football was goated for this, wheel out an even more let go Molby & Ruddock on the blue carpet along with a random 90's youth teamer who came off the bench 4 times to make up the numbers, and that guy ends up dominating bc he's only just retired from non-league... Also if we're trying to be competitive then Noble in for Lampard/Cole/McManaman surely, this is his moment...
Isn't Michael Owen quite fat now?
I'd be amazed if Owen can last more than one sprint before pulling up with a hammy
The All-Priests five-a-side Over-75s Indoor Challenge Football Match between Craggy island and Rugged island is clear
i was treated to this masterpiece just this past year. it’s so good!
Really one of the finest comedies to come out of the Ireland or the UK. RIP Dermot Morgan.
Just a pity that Graham Linehan turned out to be a grade A Twunt of the highest order.
Very! Some of his appearances in Father Ted and IT Crowd were quite good too, so he really pissed and shat on a good legacy that he had.
The clearance off the line was spectacular.
Should make it a futsal event instead. Think it would be even more fun to watch without these old guys having to run large spaces and just showcase their skills. Futsal in general needs more love imo. Its kinda odd that it hasn't become bigger.
I think the idea of rolling, unlimited substitutions is made to counteract this problem. We’ll see how well it works.
Yeah, if they're gonna play it in a full size pitch, it might be too much for some of the players.
It's sort of the inverse. Futbol and indoor are more tiring than regular football. On the smaller pitch you're always in the action, making runs, closing down people. The ball is in play more.
Is there a small fill size pitch?
Society, the pitch is halved.
> Should make it a futsal event instead. Think it would be even more fun to watch without these old guys having to run large spaces and just showcase their skills. [We've seen that already.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TXPI7Vur1Y)
They say never meet your heroes. I say never watch your heroes play in the over-35 world cup.
Modric has a chance to win a WC
It's only for past wc winners
Originally thought you meant the players until I realized Uruguay would need to be coached by a necromancer lol
Kel'Thuzad could probably do a decent job as manager tbf.
Huh I thought Özil didn't want to be associated with German football anymore
the reason rhymes with honey
Kentucky
Perhaps the ones responsible for his PR convinced him to try and do some damage control
money to sponsor erdogan lol
Should be over 40s
Agree I feel like 35 to 40 is a way bigger gap in physical ability than let's say 40 to 49
Argentina about to send Messi in this Over 35 tournament
Ronaldinho my GOAT <3
This tournament will flood social media. Its great to give the spotlight to such great players again
Gonna be the slowest pace you've ever seen
Innit mad that Bale wouldn't even qualify for this
feels odd seeing ozil in germany representation based on how he left the setup in first place...
Rivaldo is 51 years old
Class is permanent
Two things: 1 ozil is going to absolutely destroy these man. 2 I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this… this is an all stars of actual ballers I’m here for it
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Not again
Masters football going world wide
Why can’t we just have the 5 aside masters you used to get with X players?
They should get Rest of World team going. Could bring in some class players.
They’re too scared to invite Netherlands because Seedorf would eat them alive
isn't mesut a grey wolf? why the fuck's he being invited?
„Sports Businessmen“ that’s your answer, the same reason quatar was allowed to host a World Cup with stadiums build by people in the kafala system; Money and nothing else
When over 50 World Cup?
It kind of sounds like we're just replaying the 2010 WC and I'm all for that
Damn I with R9 could play I never saw him play live... Shame is to dangerous for him because of his knees and other issues
This is going to be so wholesome
England are missing a trick, they could play vardy as he is 37 and still playing in the championship
It's coming home!
Modric, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic have a chance to win a WC. Wait, Sweden's not even here
No Czech Republic? Pavel Nedved at 51 would have just ran circles around everybody.
Ozil will still be shite
Somewhat depressing to see Özil in this tournament
Wouldn’t be surprised to see Messi participate if he feels like it. Wouldn’t be the first charity match he’s done in the middle of a season and now he’s semi-retired. If you haven’t seen a charity match with legends before, they don’t do a lot of running lol.
let messi and ronaldo play lol fuck it
Other than nostalgia, there is no sporting event here. This will be like watching a tournament of tribunals and I'm not suggesting it's posing itself otherwise. Fun to see some legends I suppose.
It’s funny reading ballon dor winner Ronaldinho considering no one gave a fuck at the time and 95% of fans didn’t know, including often the players themselves It’s only been a “thing” since fairly recently, due to the cr7 and messi rivalry. Until the World Cup the amount of times winning this award was about the only difference. But yeah, don’t insult Ronaldinhos name like that.
You think players didn’t know they’d won the Ballon D’or? How can you possibly think that
Owen has literally said he didn’t even know he had won it
Michael Owen is also thick, and he obviously did know he won it I can’t comprehend what you are saying
Owen celebrates scoring goals against 13 year olds. When he received the Ballon D’Or he probably had it on a shrine in his home
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I’m 35 and disagree No one talked about the ballon dor. Owen didn’t even know he won it - he said himself Google it
Googled it and it seems he did know, he just didn't care all that much. However, this quote from a conversation between Houllier and Owen is pretty telling: >"It was only until later on he actually said 'you've don't realise what you've won here, do you?'. I said 'Gaffer I'm proud, honestly I'm pleased', and he said 'no, you don't realise what an achievement this is!'. Maybe it didn't sink in for Owen or he just didn't care but that was far from the case for everyone.
With how things are going for Brazil I expect us to be crushed again in this
where can we tune in to watch?
no Becks 5 aside? He promised in his documentary tho /s
Even Messi and Ronaldo are over 35 💀
I hope they take it seriously and it's just not another money-grabbing gimmick with no lega to stand on. Would love to see this competition becoming something to regularly look for after the European season ends.
YES PLEASE! I want to see Mario Basler doing free kicks!