Five football players that didn't retire early enough

It is said that a sportsman should retire when he is still winning and performing at the highest level so that he can leave a lasting legacy. But, in football, players often loath to leave the beautiful game and with so many leagues mushrooming around the world. The older players often find a place to ply their trade.

It seems like it doesn’t matter to them the manner in which they end their career, but what matters to them is how they can prolong it.

Here is a list of 5 players who could have called it a day on a high note, but instead chose to play at lower levels to keep their career going.

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1) Peter Shilton

Born: 18th September 1949

Age he played till: 47

Career: 1966-1997

In a goalkeeping career that lasted for 31 years, Shilton bagged 125 England caps and played for 11 different league clubs. He played in two European Cup finals and more than 1,300 competitive matches.

Shilton also had the honour of representing England at UEFA Euro 1980, the 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 1986 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 1988 and the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

He made his World Cup finals debut at the age of 32. He played in 17 finals matches and shares the record of 10 clean sheets in World Cup finals with French keeper Fabien Barthez.

At the club level, Shilton was part of Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest, that was riding high after being just promoted to the First Division.

The club won the League title in 1977-78 season. This was their first season back in the first division, and Shilton was 28-years-old back then. During the season, Shilton conceded just 18 goals in 37 league appearances.

He was also named the 'PFA Player of the Year' for his displays. Forest won the League Cup again in 1979. The club reached European Cup final and beat Swedish side Malmo.

In the international arena, the goalkeeper was part of the England team that qualified for 1980 European Championships in Italy. Meanwhile, Forest once again reached the European Cup final in 1980 and beat SV Hamburg for the title.

The Leicester-born won his 30th cap for England in a 2-0 win over Spain in March 1980. He was 31 years old at this point.

There were several points in Shilton’s career when he could have retired at least at the club level. After 1980, Shilton didn’t enjoy the same success with Forest. Forest began to continue their trophy-winning form and Shilton got addicted to gambling.

There were even reports of an extramarital affair and a drunk-driving conviction. To be sure, he did manage to establish himself as the first-choice goalkeeper for England, but club successes were hard to come by at that time.

Shilton finally retired while playing for First Division team Leyton Orient at the grand age of 47 in 1996-1997. At the time of his retirement, he was the fifth oldest player ever to have played in the Football League or the Premier League.

2) Stuart Pearce

Born: 24th April 1962

Age he played till: 40

Career: 1978-2002

In a career spanning 24 years, Pearce played for six league clubs including Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and West Ham. He made his debut as a fullback for Wealdstone in 1978.

Pearce played his last professional game under Kevin Keegan at Manchester City when he was 41-years-old.

Pearce ended up making 401 appearances for Forest and also captained the side for regular periods. During his time at Forest, the club won two League Cups and the Full Members Cup.

He helped the club retain League Cup in 1991. Despite Forest’s relegation from the top-flight in 1993, the full-back decided to stay on and help the club to gain promotion. By this time, Brian Clough had retired after 18 years at the helm of the club.

Pearce helped Forest finish third in the Premier League in the following season and reach the UEFA Cup quarter-finals a year later. Pearce was even appointed as caretaker-manager of Forest after Clark resigned with the club languishing at the bottom of FA Premier League.

Pearce finally decided to leave Forest in 1996-97, bringing down the curtain on his 12-years-long time at Forest. He was 35-years-old then.

Some could argue that this would have been a good time for Pearce to hang up his boots, but he continued to play. In the subsequent seasons, he played for Newcastle United, West Ham and Manchester City, but never quite hit the highs he saw at Forest.

His last game was for City in the First Division, when he was 40 years old. He missed a penalty in that game which would have earned him his 100th career goal.

3) Rafael Márquez Álvarez

Born: 13th February 1979

Age he played till: 38 (Present)

Career: 1996-Present

The Mexican Rafael Márquez Álvarez plays for Mexican club Atlas. The central defender also began his career with Atlas in 1996 where he played in more than 70 games.

Quite early in his career, Marquez had tasted success. In 1999, Márquez moved to Monaco in France, where he won the Ligue 1 title.

In 2003, Márquez was transferred to Barcelona. He had a fairly good time at Barca, featuring in over 200 matches and winning several championships.

In 2006, he became the first Mexican player to be part of a UEFA Champions League winning team when Barcelona beat Arsenal in the final game.

However, his time at Barca was also plagued with injuries which kept him sidelined from some key games. Marquez picked up an injury while playing against Chelsea during the 2008-09 Champions League Final, for which he was told he needed a surgery on his left knee.

It forced him to miss the rest of the season which saw Barca win a historic treble after winning the 2008-09 Champions League.

Before the 2009-10 season would get underway, Márquez received an offer from Serie A club Fiorentina, but he rejected it as he wished to end his career at Barcelona. It seemed like a wise move at that time, but stars were not favourably aligned.

In November 2009, Márquez signed a new contract with the Blaugrana, that would have kept the Mexican at the club till 2012. However, on July 31 2010, Márquez was released from his contract at Barca.

He was 33 years old. Perhaps this would have been a good time for him to retire. But, Márquez decided to join MLS Soccer Club New York Red Bulls after spending seven years at the Catalan giants.

His stint at the club was widely criticized by journalists and fans as he was constantly injured or suspended from playing.

He would later describe his decision to play in the United States as a “bad decision”. However, Márquez never found anything close to playing for a high-profile club like Barca. After New York Red Bulls, Márquez has played for different clubs in Mexico.

4) Kazuyoshi Miura

Born: 26th February 1967

Age he played till: 50 (Present)

Career: 1986-Present

Kazuyoshi Miura or King Kazu as he is better known as a legend back home in Japan. Perhaps in Japanese, there is no equivalent word for retirement, in any case, Kazu doesn’t seem to know the word even if there was one in Japanese.

He currently plays for J-League Division 2 team Yokohama FC. At an age where once-upon-a-time footballers are either looking for managerial roles or executive positions behind the desk, Kazu is playing professional football.

In fact, on the 5th of March 2017, Miura became the oldest ever player to feature in a professional match. Kazu started his career in Brazil with Santos.

He returned to Japan in 1990 and joined Japan Soccer League Yomiuri FC, which later became Verdy Kawasaki with the launch of J League in 1993.

With Kawasaki, Kazu won four consecutive league titles. Kazu was named as the most valuable player in J-League in 1993 and was also the last unofficial Asian Footballer of the Year in 1993.

He joined Genoa CFC in the 1994-95 Serie A season. However, he didn’t find much success in his European excursion as he scored just once in his 21 appearances for the club. He returned to Kawasaki for the 1995 season and played with them till 1998.

Kazu made another attempt to find success in Europe. He joined Dinamo Zagreb in 1999. However, he returned to Japan soon. He signed for Yokohama FC in 2005. He was 38 years old.

The forward has continued to play for Yokohama, spending 12 years at the club. Kazu didn’t find much success in Europe, but on the world stage, he found some. He scored fourteen times for Japan during qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Kazu’s goals helped Japan to qualify for their first-ever FIFA World Cup Finals. Kazu played his last national team match in 2000 and finished with the second-most career goals in Japanese national team history with 55 goals in 89 matches.

He was 33-years-old. Perhaps, this would have been a good time to hang up the boots, but he didn't seize the moment.

5) Antonio Cassano

Born: July 12, 1982

Age he played till: 35 (Present)

Career: 1999-Present (Looking for another club)

A highly skilful player, the Italian international was a treat to watch when in full flow. In his prime, he could easily dribble past 2-3 players. Cassano's career kickstarted in 1999 when he played in Serie A for Bari against local rivals Lecce.

In 2001, when Cassano was just 19, he signed with Serie A reigning champions Roma for a transfer fee of 60 billion Italian lire (about €30 million). This was the most expensive teenage signing ever.

During his time at Roma, he won Serie A Young Footballer of the Year Award in 2001 and 2003. However, there were issues that were getting out of hand. In the 2005–06 pre-season,

Cassano was in constant conflict with the club management over the renewal of his contract, which was due to expire on June 30, 2006.

In January 2006, Cassano parted ways with Roma and signed with Real Madrid. for just €5 million. The playmaker's career at Real was not off to a great start. Just four months at his new club, Cassano started gaining weight due to poor eating habits.

Madrid kept fining him for every gram he remained over his playing weight. On October 30, 2006, Madrid announced on its website that Cassano had been suspended due to “disrespect” of club manager Fabio Capello.

He was subsequently benched. On various occasions, Cassano indicated his burning desire to return to Roma. He even showed his eagerness to make peace with Totti with whom he had a bitter stand-off before departing from Roma.

However, he remained with the Los Blancos after the January 2007 transfer window had closed. The rest of his season was cut short by an ankle injury, and Cassano only made seven league appearances for Madrid, scoring just a single goal.

On August 13, 2007, the Bari-born versatile player joined Serie A side Sampdoria on a one-year loan deal. Cassano had a good run at Sampdoria. However, Cassano had a heated row with club chairman Riccardo Garrone following the player’s refusal to attend an award ceremony.

He was excluded from first-team squad with immediate effect. Sampdoria applied for a contract termination to a league arbitration panel. In December 2010, AC Milan reached a deal with Sampdoria to sign Cassano.

Cassano enjoyed himself at AC Milan, linking up well with Zlatan Ibrahimovic

When Milan claimed the 2010-11 Serie A title, it was the first Scudetto of Cassano’s career, by which time, he was 29-years-old. Cassano saw further success while at Milan. After a good pre-season, Cassano won the 2011 Supercoppa Italiana with Milan over Inter.

On October 29, 2011, after Milan’s match against Roma in Rome, he suffered a stroke and was hospitalized.

He had to spend six months on the sidelines until he recuperated. On April 2nd, 2012, he featured as a substitute in Milan’s 1-2 home defeat to Fiorentina. On Apri 29th, he scored his first goal since his operation in Milan’s 4-1 win over Siena.

He also made two assists in Ibrahimovich’s goals during the match. Milan finished the Serie A season in second place behind Juventus, also reaching the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, and the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Cassano was 30-years-old.

On August 21, 2012, Milan and Inter reached an agreement over his transfer. Cassano apparently wanted to leave the club as he was upset by the departure of key players like Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva.

Cassano's season at Inter was marked by negativity. Not only did the club struggle in the league, but Cassano also often argued with club manager Andrea Stramaccioni. Cassano provided nine assists in the season. Inter finished the season in ninth place.

In the latter part of his career, Cassano joined Parma and then returned to Sampdoria and after that moved to Hellas Verona. Cassano has switched many clubs, but nowhere he could find the successes that he found at Milan.

Perhaps, he should have stayed at Milan where he was performing well, and also have retired from his professional career at Milan while he was still playing some good football.