Top 10 Olden Goldies

Being old isn't enough. Like red wine, cheese and Felicity Kendal, here are ten players who got better with age. The message is clear - being Italian helps...

6. Didier Drogba Despite the obvious comparisons between Drogba and Romelu Lukaku, it is worth remembering that we must wait until 2019 for Lukaku to reach the age that the Ivorian was when he even joined Chelsea. Despite the club's back-to-back titles in 2004/5 and 2005/6, Drogba only scored 22 goals in those two seasons combined as he struggled to make a meaningful impact at Stamford Bridge. But then, in 2009 when aged 31, Drogba's career suddenly gained a new lease of life. The striker scored 29 goals in 32 Premier League games and 37 in all competitions, a hat-trick on the final day rubber-stamping the Blues' title victory. Two years later and Drogba's penalty gave Chelsea their maiden Champions League trophy, named Man of the Match in the final. 5. Paolo Maldini Paolo Maldini made 418 appearances for club and country after turning 30. That, ladies and gentlemen, is bloody ridiculous, especially when you consider that the defender retired from international football in 2002, seven years before his last game for Milan. After a career founded on ventures forward from left-back combined with defensive solidity, Maldini moved to central defence after his pace began to fade and effortlessly transformed from a world-class full-back to a world class central defender. You'd be angry with jealousy if it wasn't for those Mediterranean blue eyes. Ahead of Milan's 2007 Champions League semi-final against Manchester United, Alex Ferguson described Maldini's (then 38) quarter-final performance thus: "Maldini went through the entire 90 minutes without tackling. That is an art and he is the master of it. He is a great player." 4. Claude Makelele When reminiscing on Makelele's club career one instantly thinks of Real Madrid and Chelsea, so it is surprising to realise that he didn't even move to the Spanish capital until the age of 27, and was brought to West London for £16.8million after his 30th birthday. Under Jose Mourinho (after an initial season under Claudio Ranieri), Makelele became the heartbeat of Chelsea's title-winning side, labelled as the club's Player of the Year by the manager at the age of 32 and still a first team regular at 35. Playing almost 120 games for Paris St Germain even after leaving Chelsea, Makelele's presence on this list is justified by the bizarre fact that he made over half of his career appearances after his 29th birthday. 3. Antonio Di Natale Similarly to Milito before him, Di Natale's was a career threatening to dwindle up until 2009. He had scored reasonably regularly for Empoli and Udinese, had picked up six international goals and had reached 32 years of age. And then, seemingly out nowhere, it seemed as if all of his (Tony) Christmases had come at once. From 2009/10 onwards, the forward scored more Serie A goals than he had in his previous eight seasons combined, becoming the first player since Giuseppe Signori in 1994 to win consecutive Capocannoniere (golden boot) awards in Italy. He's still going, and he's 36. Since August 2009, only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have scored more league goals in European football than Di Natale at Udinese. That's a hell of a quiz question and some exalted company to be hanging around in. 2. Edwin van der Sar Bosnich, van der Gouw, Culkin, Taibi, Rachubka, Barthez, Goram, Carroll, Ricardo, Howard. The list of the ten incumbents following Peter Schmeichel in the Manchester United goal does not read well, demonstrating just how grateful the Old Trafford faithful were that van der Sar managed to save the best form of his career for his twilight years in Manchester. If being named Man of the Match in a Champions League final victory at the age of 37 wasn't enough, he added both icing and cherry to a particularly sweet cake by setting a global league clean sheet record in the following season. Van der Sar also added the UEFA Best European Goalkeeper award in 2009. I don't know what that would be on the cake, possibly those inexplicable little metal balls that threaten to break your teeth. 1. Fabio Cannavaro This last one is quite easy: Serie A winner (later revoked thanks to Calciopoli)
La Liga winner (twice)
Serie A Defender of the Year (twice)
UEFA Team of the Year
Serie A Footballer of the Year
Italian Footballer of the Year
World Cup winner
Ballon D'Or winner
FIFA World Player of the Year Most international footballers would be rather pleased with such a list of honours for an entire career. Fabio Cannavaro achieved all that after reaching 32. Blimey. This article first appeared on Football365