FARYD MONDRAGON MADE his first appearance at the World Cup at USA ’94. Last night the veteran goalkeeper came off the bench in Colombia’s 4-1 win over Japan to become the tournament’s oldest ever player.
Mondragon, who turned 43 last Saturday, replaced first-choice goalkeeper David Ospina for the final eight minutes of a game Colombia had already sewn up.
If there were any doubts that his appearance was tokenism, Mondragon produced a smart save from Yoichiro Kakitani in injury time.
https://vine.co/v/MtnbmhubvhJ
He surpassed the previous record of Cameroon’s Roger Milla, who played at 42 years and 39 days at USA ’94.
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Over on RTÉ, following the game, pundits Kenny Cunningham and Didi Hamann criticised Colombia boss Jose Pekerman for putting Mondragon on for the closing stages, remarking that it showed a lack of respect for the Japanese. Fellow pundit Richie Sadlier argued that Colombia had every right to award the veteran his cameo outing. He later tweeted:
The lads are still banging on about Mondragon being brought on. Cynical old goats, the pair of them. #rtesoccer
Veteran of USA '94, Colombia goalkeeper becomes World Cup's oldest player
FARYD MONDRAGON MADE his first appearance at the World Cup at USA ’94. Last night the veteran goalkeeper came off the bench in Colombia’s 4-1 win over Japan to become the tournament’s oldest ever player.
Mondragon, who turned 43 last Saturday, replaced first-choice goalkeeper David Ospina for the final eight minutes of a game Colombia had already sewn up.
If there were any doubts that his appearance was tokenism, Mondragon produced a smart save from Yoichiro Kakitani in injury time.
https://vine.co/v/MtnbmhubvhJ
He surpassed the previous record of Cameroon’s Roger Milla, who played at 42 years and 39 days at USA ’94.
Over on RTÉ, following the game, pundits Kenny Cunningham and Didi Hamann criticised Colombia boss Jose Pekerman for putting Mondragon on for the closing stages, remarking that it showed a lack of respect for the Japanese. Fellow pundit Richie Sadlier argued that Colombia had every right to award the veteran his cameo outing. He later tweeted:
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Cameo World Cup World Cup 2014 david ospina farid mondragon faryd mondragon oldest player Colombia Japan v for veteran