5️⃣ players you had no idea were still playing 👴 | OneFootball

In these times of football’s shutdown, it is important that we don’t forget about the stars of the game who have given us so much.

But coronavirus or not, there are some players you may have forgotten are still actually going strong …

Milan Baroš

Baroš is the only outfield player who featured in the epic 2005 Champions League final who is still going strong today.

The only other man in the matchday squads that night who is still a registered player is his former Liverpool team-mate Scott Carson, now goalkeeping back-up at Manchester City.

Since leaving Anfield after that European success, the striker’s career has wound its way across England, Turkey and his Czech Republic.

That is where he is still playing to this day at the age of 38 where he has shown he still has it, scoring three times in 11 appearances this season for Banik Ostrava, where his career began 22 years ago.

Michael Essien

We have to be honest, after Essien left Milan in 2015 at the age of 33, he completely fell off our radar.

Which is why we were shocked to find that even at 37, he remains an active player.

The former Chelsea man had a season at Panathinaikos before moving on to Indonesia and then Azerbaijan, where he is still on the books at Sabail FK.

That’s not the only Essien surprise in store. His loan spell at Real Madrid had also slipped our minds until we went looking back on his career!

Roque Santa Cruz

We know, we know. It seems like it was 20 years ago that we watched the Paraguayan striker tearing up the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.

Oh, wait. It was. And yet at the ripe old age of 38, Santa Cruz has returned to Olimpia in his homeland and you certainly can’t argue with his scoring record.

In two games this season, the former Manchester City forward has scored twice. You can’t argue with production like that!

Not bad for a man who was part of the Paraguay squad at the 1999 Copa América.

Shunsuke Nakamura

The best left foot ever to come out of Asia is still lighting up fields even at the age of 41!

It is 12+ years since he scored stunners against Manchester United and in crucial derbies during his Celtic days but Nakamura isn’t letting up.

After falling out of favour at Júbilo Iwata in his homeland last season, it appeared the sun may have finally set on a glorious career.

But the former Reggina man retains his hunger and penned a deal with newly promoted Yokohama FC in an attempt to prolong his playing days.

They’ve played just once in 2020 but encouragingly, Nakamura did start that game and played 71 minutes.

Alex Hleb

Remember the exciting, fresh-faced Belarus international who swapped Stuttgart, where he had been a key man, for Arsenal in 2005?

In 2020, at the age of 38, he’s still at it and bringing some star power to Isloch Minsk Raoin where you can catch him in action even today – with his homeland being the only one in Europe where football is carrying on unburdened.

But the fact that Hleb is still playing today isn’t even close to being the most remarkable thing about his career.

The midfielder has signed for and subsequently left BATE Borisov on SIX separate occasions!

He should just keep his stuff in the locker at their training ground – he’ll undoubtedly be back again soon.