Legendary Footballers that are still alive (age 90 and beyond)

Horst Eckel is the older WC winner alive, but he is surprisingly "just" 86.
edit: Looks someone who won the WC 4 years later is even older (Zagallo - 87)

 

Amadeo Carrizo, 92.

 

Reino Börjesson (b. 1929) turned 90 years old on 4 February. He appeared in 4 of the 6 games that Sweden played in the 1958 FIFA World Cup: Wales, Soviet, West Germany & Brazil.

Börjesson is one of 3 surviving players from WC 58, the others being Kurt Hamrin & Agne Simonsson.

 

By all accounts, 92-year-old Scottish footballer Doug Cowie (b. 1926) is still alive. A Dundee legend, he was part of the Scottish squad at the 1954 & 1958 World Cups.

https://davidyoung.photoshelter.com/image/I0000OJjkrPFvqQ8

 

Soviet Union striker Nikita Simonyan (b. 1926) is another 92-year-old footballer who is still with us. He is the all-time goal scorer for Spartak Moscow, and captained Soviet at the 58 WC when Igor Netto got injured. He is also a gold medalist at the 1956 Olympics.

French footballer Dominique Colonna (b. 1928). He reminisced over Roger Piantoni after his death last May, so there is recent evidence of him being alive. Being a goalkeeper, Colonna was a sub at the 1958 World Cup, but had a good career at club level in teams like Stade Francais & Reims.

 

Maybe not a legend, but Italian forward Emilio Caprile (b. 1928) is one of the few surviving players from the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The most recent update I could find was an article from 2014.

https://www.pianetagenoa1893.net/es...b-ma-il-genoa-e-rimasto-sempre-nel-mio-cuore/

 

Here are a few more names:

Arthur Smith & George Haigh (b. 1915) are mentioned here solely because they hold the distinction of being the oldest-living known footballers. Their respective careers weren't that remarkable, but their longevity is impressive and they are links to the 1930s-era football. Smith was a winger, while Haigh was a forward.

Rogério Pipi (b. 1922) is a 96-year-old Portuguese forward who scored a ton of goals at Benfica. He is the club's 6th-highest goal scorer of all time. 15 caps and 2 goals for Portugal in total. Link to Dec 2018 article.

Bobby Brown (b. 1923) is a Scottish goalkeeper who spent the majority of his career at Rangers. He was inducted into the Scottish HoF in 2015. He later managed Scotland. He is 95 at the moment Link.

Herbert Binkert (b. 1923) is the short-lived national team Saarland's joint-top scorer. Ok, 6 goals isn't all that much, but he scored all the more goals at FC Saarbrücken. Article from Sept 2018.

Reg Harrison (b. 1923) is another 95-year-old footballer. The English right-winger won the FA Cup back in 1946. Recent article here.

Robert Van Kerkhoven (b. 1924) is a Belgian midfielder who's not that well-known. He was part of the 1954 WC squad, and confirmed alive back in 2016. He is 94 right now.

Kees Rijvers (b. 1926) is a Dutch midfielder aged 92. Most known for being a successful manager at PSV (won the UEFA Cup), he was also an accomplished player, in both Eredivisie & Ligue 1. 33 caps/10 goals for his NT, as well as being a member of the 1948 Olympics squad. Video from March 2018.

Marko Valok (b. 1927) is a Yugoslavian striker. Spent most of his career at Partizan Belgrade, and holds the distinction of scoring most goals in the derbies vs. Red Star. He is 91 now. An article from 2017 here

Dagoberto Moll (b. 1927) is a 91-year-old forward from Uruguay. Was at his peak at Deportivo La Coruña in the early-1950s. Moll was capped 6 times, and was part of the 1949 Copa América squad. Photo from a year ago.

Juan José Pizzuti (b. 1927) is an Argentine striker who was incredibly prolific back in his prime, especially at Racing Club. He helped Argentina win the 1959 Copa América. Article from May 2018 here. He's 91.

Kurt Sommerlatt (b. 1928) is a German midfielder, part of the 1952 Olympics squad. Played for Bayern for a few years. 2017 article.

 

Jeff Whitefoot is still in his 80s for a couple more years yet, but is the only living player from the Nottingham Forest 1959 FA Cup winning team, and also as Wikipedia informs me, the only one from the Manchester United 1955/56 league title winners (albeit as pointed out several of them died in Munich after the 1958 disaster)
Jeff Whitefoot (footballer) - Wikipedia

 

He has been for three years the oldest living international of his country and also for three years the oldest living of the Benelux. Recently he had something to say:


Rijvers (95) does not watch Orange games: 'I don't like shuffle-shuffle football'

Kees Rijvers doesn't like the fact that he can call himself the oldest living international of the Dutch national team, the man who still took part in the 1953 flood competition and was a teammate of the legendary Abe Lenstra and Faas Wilkes.

"Maybe it's my turn next", Rijvers grumbles, who recently turned 95.

For someone of his age, Rijvers has little to complain about. He still lives independently with his wife Annie, albeit not without the loving help that his children and grandchildren give him. But everything is still going the way it is.

Sometimes Rijvers frightens his family, for example when he candidly tells that he rode his bike to the bakery.

"We have a good time together", the former pro experiences aging. After a lifetime of being active in football, up to a position as national coach. The sport that has given him so much, but can now be stolen at his advanced age. "Occasionally I look at the pupils, that's it."

When Rijvers sees his granddaughter playing football, the football animal still awakens in him. Feelings that an approaching European championship no longer stirs in him. "I don't think I'm going to watch."

The Dutch team of national coach Frank de Boer can certainly not appeal to Rijvers.

Messi, Hazard and De Bruyne
"I don't like shuffle-shuffle riskless football. Again a little wide. And again a little bit back," Rijvers judges. "I can still enjoy Lionel Messi, Eden Hazard or Kevin De Bruyne when they're in a good mind and shape."

To emphasize that they really have to play well, otherwise the TV will turn off again.

Then Rijvers suddenly speaks of disgrace that De Bruyne was "kicked out of the game" by a hard charge of Antonio Rüdiger. He had to admit that he had seen the Champions League final. "When I got home, I turned it on anyway."

And Rijvers is back home after a life-long commute between the Netherlands and France. In his Princenhage, nowadays a district of Breda.

A stone's throw from the place where he was born almost a century ago, Rijvers is wandering around again in his old age. There's plenty to do. "I don't know my own program, I don't know what is planned by my wife."

Stubborn and outspoken
Annie is now in a wheelchair, the years are counting for her too. "And then suddenly getting old isn't so fun," says Rijvers.

Stubborn and outspoken as he is, still, to the relief of his loved ones, Rijvers had himself and his wife vaccinated against the corona virus. They seem to be able to handle it again. In December, they hope to celebrate 72 years of marriage.

Memories abound, after more than fifty years of being active in professional football. After a lot of insistence, granddaughter Antje Veld was allowed to write a book about the beautiful career of one of the first football professionals who knew the Netherlands.

Those were the years when it was still forbidden to be active abroad for the Orange as a professional football player, now hardly imaginable.

And fortunately, all legendary stories have been immortalized on paper, because at his age it is not too easy for Rijvers to rake up the anecdotes. "FC Twente, very good time. PSV too, very good time. Perhaps a little less with the Dutch national team", he briefly sums up some highlights.

Rijkaard, Gullit and Van Basten
Although Rijvers had the responsibility for the national team in a lean period of Dutch football, he did allow supporting players such as Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten to make their debut.

Rijvers has now exchanged football for a new passion. "I would prefer to play a game of billiards now."

Back in Princenhage he ran into an old schoolmate, with whom he regularly played a game in the village ever since. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, strict regulations have made it impossible for the two old friends to continue that tradition.

The question is whether it will happen in the short term.

And otherwise the television secretly offers a solution, provided Orange shows a little more guts. "I want to see two teams that dare to attack. So also the opponent, otherwise I really don't think it's worth it."
https://nos.nl/collectie/13781/arti...nje-ik-hou-niet-van-schuifie-schuifie-voetbal


There was also an interesting radio interview I see but didn't listen to it yet in full. I did hear him saying he thinks Cruijff is the best and most intriguing coach we have seen and Van Dijk over the last half decade the best defender of his lifetime (although I'm thinking, that they're both from the same city maybe slants the call a bit? maybe not).