It was the weekend of farewells. In San Ciro, Zlatan Ibrahimovic said goodbye to football in tears at the age of 41, knowing full well that enthusiasm alone is not enough to continue a career full of triumphs. Karim Benzema, the player who gave Real Madrid the most titles, left Chamartín to continue his career in bloated Arab football. Lionel Messi left Paris with more sorrow than glory and Andrés Iniesta, who is about to turn 40, is tempted to extend his useful life in some corner of the world now that his contract in Japan has expired.
The talents and goalscorers are privileged to push their careers to the limit regardless of the age factor. Something that does not weigh on the goalkeepers, where for example Gianluigi Buffón plans to extend his relationship for another year at Parma, who failed to get promoted at the weekend. This is how he would play at the age of 45 on the team he was born on.
While all this was happening to great media attention, Humberto Suazo was already celebrating a new goal in Chilean football at the age of 42 by defending the San Luis de Quillota jersey. The striker’s contribution to the networks, commonly known as Chupete, allows his modest squad to sit at the top of Primera B standings, fueling the illusion that the shooter will return to the Major Division, all the more so after celebrating his goal number 300 that “I’ll turn 60 and will continue to do the same”.
Suazo decided to return to the courts after a brief retirement, feeling his conditions were intact. With Colo Colo Meister, an idol in Monterrey, Mexico and a brief stint at Zaragoza, he survived tough relegation with La Serena last season and signed for San Luis, one of the teams where he began his career. Educated at the Universidad Católica, he was the last net center forward for the Chilean side that qualified for the World Cup in South Africa, where Marcelo Bielsa insisted on using him despite his injury woes.
Until a few months ago, he was rivaled by another veteran striker, Esteban Paredes, who retired at the age of 41 after breaking the record for goals in Chilean football despite not having the history of Suazo in the national team. Pacifier definitely has another goal in mind: to become the oldest goalscorer to ever score in the Chilean league.
The list contains evocative names. Raimundo Orsi, an Argentinian naturalized Italian and world champion with the Azzurri in 1934, played his final season in Chile in 1943, defending Santiago National when he was 41 years old. Another Cup winner, Mario Alberto Kempes, scored five goals in 1995 at the age of 42 while playing for Fernández Vial. A record similar to that of the mythical angel Labruna who once celebrated at the age of 41 wearing the colors of Rangers de Talca.
The longevity record is still held by another Argentine, Roberto El Muñeco Coll, who came on the field for Palestino in 1968 at the age of 43 years and 108 days. It’s hard to say goodbye to goal scorers, and it’s even harder to say goodbye. Jaime Ramírez, a famous striker for the Chilean national team who finished third at the 1962 World Cup, scored at the age of 40 in the 1972 Copa Libertadores as the defending Unión San Felipe champions. And by and large, Cameroon’s Roger Milla scored at the 1994 World Cup aged 42 years and 39 days.
If Suazo’s desire to further develop his career comes true, all of those records could be shattered. And even endangering the rule of Kazuyoshi Miura, the Japanese who, at the age of 56, plays for Oliveirense in the Portuguese second division. Suffice it to recall that Stanley Matthews was knighted by the Queen of England and played until he was 50 years old.
Meanwhile, in a weekend of tears and farewells, Humberto Chupete Suazo continues to dream of prolonging his dream of scoring, which in his case seems to have no end.
Aldo Schiappacasse is one of the largest sports journalism companies in Chile. With a career in television, radio and written media, he is one of the conductors of País ADN. In EL PAÍS he writes columns about Chilean sport and social life