35 years old is a heck of an age for a professional footballer to be. It’s old, in the world of football at least, but at the same time it’s really not. No one in their right minds would look at a 35-year-old and say they are past it outside of the world of sports. It’s a cut throat young man’s game, always has been, always will be. That’s why when 35 year-old Aritz Aduriz’s best goals of 2016 look like this, it’s a big deal.
First was this bicycle kick against Eibar back in January.
Then, just this week, he went full Suarez and scored a volley from deeeeeep in the Europa League.
We know of legends who stay in the game far later than anyone else: Didier Drogba, Andrea Pirlo, Xavi ... but Aduriz is different. Unlike the three just mentioned, Aduriz has never made it big. He’s Spanish, but has only made one appearance for the Spanish national team. He plays for one of Spain’s best teams, Atletico Madrid, but no one has ever clamored for his jersey the way they do for Cristiano Ronaldo's, Gareth Bale's, Neymar's or Messi's. He was well on his way to being forgotten, until this year rolled around.
Photo: @si_soccer | Twitter
These two goals highlight a 2015/16 campaign that, for Aduriz, has been nothing short of sensational. He has scored 13 goals in 23 league games, and 25 goals in total. This coming from a striker who 5 years ago was struggling to stay in double digits. His year-by-year improvement speaks to how he has only gotten better with age: 11, 13, 14, 9, 18, 18, 26, and this year’s 25 with months left to play.
Here’s to hoping that his form this season, combined with the two goals above, will see Aduriz get called up by Vincente del Bosque to the Spanish national team for this summer’s European Championships.
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