Ballotta played 138 Serie A games, largely for the football club Lazio. Ballotta became the oldest player to play in a Champions League match in 2007, at the age of 43, breaking the previous record held by Alessandro Costacurta, who was 40. The record was later broken by Javier Mouzo Zapata, who was 44 years and 250 days old when he appeared against Getafe on 15 April 2015.
He died at the age of 88 on 4 February 2017.
Ballotta made his debut for Lazio in 1995 and scored 14 goals during his time there. He joined Roma in 2000 and spent two seasons with them before moving to Bologna where he ended his career after one season. He won three caps for Italy between 1998 and 2000.
The oldest player to appear in the Champions League is 93 years old as of December 2016. Hristo Stoichkov is a former Bulgarian international footballer who has earned acclaim for both his ability on the ball and his accurate free kicks. He has been called "the greatest natural talent Bulgaria has ever produced" and "arguably the best foreign player in the history of the Bulgarian national team".
Stoichkov made his international debut on 3 June 1958 in a friendly match against Poland, which Bulgaria lost 1-3. He went on to earn 66 caps, scoring 16 goals.
The World's Oldest Soccer Players
Milla became the oldest player to score in a World Cup four years later, at the age of 42. Milla is considered as the creator of the contemporary, unconventional goal celebrations that have become commonplace in the game today, in addition to his footballing talent. He was named the finest African player of the last 50 years in 2007.
After Milla, there has been only one other African player who has scored goals at a rate of more than one per match - Désiré Kolányi. The former Hungary international played in France and had a brief career with AS Monaco. He was already well into his 40s when he started playing professional football.
In terms of overall achievements, Pele is the most successful footballer in Africa. The Brazilian star won three World Cups with Brazil and is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of football. He made more than 150 appearances for Santos FC and remains their all-time top scorer with 166 goals.
Other notable African players include Egypt's Ahmed Hassan (who played in the 1950 World Cup aged 37 or 38) and Essam El Mashadany (34th man at the 1982 World Cup). There are also stories about African players being selected in European leagues but without any of them really making an impact. For example, John Demartini played in Italy in the 1970s and 80s.
Moukoko, Youssoufa Youssoufa Moukoko became the Champions League's youngest player after coming off the bench in Dortmund's match against Zenit St Petersburg. Moukoko, who is only 16 years and 18 days old, shattered a 26-year record held by former Chelsea defender Celestine Babayaro. Moukoko came on as a substitute for Ousmane Dembélé in the 73rd minute of Dortmund's quarter-final first leg match against Zenit St Petersburg on April 23.
He is a French youth international and has been part of his country's squad at every level from under-15 through to the senior team. In 2015, he was called up by Claude Puel for France's UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Germany and England but did not feature in either game.
However, it must be noted that Baba Yara was just 15 years and 311 days old when he played for Marseille in a 1972 Cup Winners' Cup tie against DAC Dunajská Streda. He scored twice in this match as Marseille beat their opponents 4-1 at home. This makes him the youngest player to have scored in the Champions League. However, Moukoko has since beaten this record with his latest achievement.
In addition to Marseille, he has also played for Metz, Lorient, Nantes and Dortmund.
Copyright © 2020 - 2023 Sportsmanist Inc.
