The average age of the 23 candidates for the best
Buy Fifa Coins Men’s Player of 2016 is 28. 43. It would be nearly 1 year less were it not for the point that the list of nominees features two on the game’s old rock celebrities, a pair of legends who always resist the passage of energy thanks to their huge talent and drive: Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon along with Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Aged 38 and 27 respectively, Gigi and Ibra could be enjoying their very last possibility to win the coveted award, though their ability in order to defy the passing in the seasons and to retain breaking records remains undimmed.
This year saw this Juventus keeper set the latest Serie A best with regard to minutes played without conceding. In ticking past the 974-minute mark against Torino in March, he eclipsed the past best, set by AC Milan’s Sebastiano Rossi inside 1994. On the way, Buffon outdid another Italian goalkeeping legend in Dino Zoff, who went 903 minutes unbeaten from the 1972-73 campaign.
“He’s the greatest keeper of them all, ” said former team-mate and also France international David Trezeguet. “I haven’t seen any individual match Buffon for consistency within the last 20 years. I don’t know how he manages to do it. ”
Buffon, who won his fifth straight scudetto last time of year and helped Juve become the first side in record to win back-to-back Serie The and Coppa Italia greatly improves, is in no doubt regarding where the secret associated with his longevity lies. “There are a lots of people to whom I can be grateful for letting me, at the age connected with 38, to keep playing in the highest level. I owe a lot to my family, who give me peace of mind and a wonderful life from the pitch. Anything is possible when you have support behind you. ”
A quarter-finalist with Italia at UEFA EURO 2016, where they went on penalties to Germany, Buffon has maintained his high standards shock as to. As well as helping his club towards the top of their UEFA Champions League group - producing some superb stops along the route - Buffon has been excelling all over again in Serie A, where his Juve side lead the way in which, having conceded fewer goals than any team so far.
As for Ibrahimovic, he has chalked way up seven Premier League goals to date for new employers Manchester United. The sixth place they currently occupy for no reason takes the gloss off what has become another memorable year for the Swedish giant.
In helping himself to 50 goals to all competitions in the 2015/16 year, Ibra set a fresh scoring record for France football, beating the 49 accumulated by Olympique Marseille’s Josip Skoblar with 1970/71. Just for good measure, the talismanic Ibrahimovic also became Paris Saint-Germain’s major all-time marksman with 156 targets, scored in just several seasons, while his season tally associated with 38 Ligue 1 goals was a new club record, one more than Argentinian ahead Carlos Bianchi’s haul within 1977/78.
“He’s one of those players who’s out of the ordinary and his stats are uncommon too, ” said Laurent Blanc, the Swede’s last coach within the French capital. Likening himself to a fine vintage, Ibra news for
FIFA 17 recently described himself in the following terms: “I think I’m recovering, even if I’m ageing. I’m like wine: I improve with era. I do not feel on the decline; quite the opposite. I think I'm more powerful mentally. I still have a terrific hunger that will i want to fulfil my goals. ”
The Swede has been in the commercial for 17 years along with Buffon for 21. When Gigi made their Serie A debut within November 1995, Paul Pogba, the youngest of the nominees for the best Men’s Player award, was only 18 months old. Yet, the passing of the years isn't going to seem to hamper either of such old rockers. As long they maintain feeling the music, they will continue for you to grace the game’s biggest arenas.
