Concern was generated among the green fans by the announcement that the Argentine goalkeeper Franco Armani renewed his contract with River Plate until December 2025.
Most are waiting for the goalkeeper to fulfill the promise he made to finish his career at Nacional, but they want him to do so at a high level and not go out the back door on his return.
Franco’s birthday is in October, and if things happen, he would return to the green cast with 39 compliments, but there are many cases of caretakers who have remained in the elite in various teams in the world at that age and even older. Not to go that far, in Colombia this situation has arisen many times and with a satisfactory result.
Experience is not improvised
Colombian exporter Óscar Córdoba retired in 2009 at the age of 39.
“I had very good moments from 35 to that age. With experience, goalkeepers better sense the intentions of the forwards, we know how to stop better in the goal and we have enough leadership to manage a defense”, he stated.
Córdoba, champion with the Colombian National Team in the 2001 Copa América, added that obviously physical recovery costs more and the pain in the body after the games can be greater.
“Sometimes I got up very sore to go to training and that’s hard, but as long as you prepare well you can be competitive until well into your 40s,” he said.
As for Armani, he believes that he has been a very professional goalkeeper and that is why he came to the Argentine National Team and played in a World Cup. “If he doesn’t suffer a serious injury, he’s got the rope for a while and more after being in a more competitive football like the Argentine and he also knows the Colombian, which facilitates his readjustment.”
Tolimense coach Hernán Torres was also a goalkeeper and retired at the age of 37. “It is very relative, but there are many cases of competitive goalkeepers, even up to 42 years old. That depends on each individual. Some of us lose reflexes before and others after, but we also win in fundamental aspects for a position that only improves with the goals conceded”.
There is a false thought
The purslane exporter José Fernando Castañeda also gave his opinion on the subject, who stated that a goalkeeper at that age is not old.
“I covered almost until I was 40 and Franco is a person who takes good care of himself, he is a great goalkeeper and I am closely following his performances. He is in a very good level. Unfortunately in Colombia, everyone got it that a player after 35 years is old. Old people say no, but young people say yes.
Castañeda is sure that Armani, at 39 years old, will continue to be very competitive for the goal of a team like Nacional.
The injuries, the obstacle
Jorge Rayo, from Valle del Cauca, retired a little younger, at 35 years old, but says that his goodbye from the fields was due more to accumulated injuries than to other factors.
“If a goalkeeper takes care of himself and doesn’t have any physical problems, he easily reaches a high level at 42. There is the example of Farid Mondragón, who retired at that age and with good performances”.
like good wines
Róbinson Zapata, goalkeeper coach for the minor divisions of Santa Fe, cut short until he was 41 years old and indicated that his best times were after he was 35. “I had more confidence in myself, I learned to better control feelings such as anxiety and nerves, in addition to It generated greater confidence in the group of teammates and in the coaching staff”.
Another who became one of the most important goalkeepers in Colombian soccer was Juan Carlos Henao, who was in force until he was 44 years old when he retired with Once Caldas.
René Higuita himself said goodbye to football at the age of 42, saving for Pereira.
The Colombian National Team exporter, José María Pazo, indicated that they, as goalkeepers, are privileged in soccer because compared to other positions they can have greater longevity. “Reflexes in a 40-year-old person are still in perfect condition, I think you start to lose some of that after 50, but a goalkeeper who has continuous competition can better preserve them as in the case of Armani. “If he returns to Nacional he can have one or two years of very good performance.”
So after consulting these experts, the green fans can be calm if the Argentine returns at that age because the goal will be in good hands
