As captain of the OGC Nice
Ex-Bayern star cracks old-age record
Updated on September 26, 2025 – 8:36 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Dante is no stranger to the Bundesliga and once ran for the German record champion. Now the Brazilian has broken a record.
He is almost 42 – and yet in the middle: Dante has set up a new age record in the Europa League with an assignment for the OGC Nice. The Brazilian ran in the group game against AS Rome on Wednesday evening – and thus became the oldest field player in the history of the competition.
With exactly 41 years and 341 days, the former Bundesliga professional stood in the starting eleven and completed the game for over 90 minutes. However, the captain could not change anything on the 1: 2 (0: 0) defeat of his club.
So far, older than Dante was only one goalkeeper duo in the Europa League: Brad Friedel (Tottenham Hotspur) and Sander Boschker (Twente Enschede) were used at the age of 42. The oldest field player before Dante was Joaquín. The Spaniard played for Real Betis in 2023 at the age of 41, seven months and 23 days.
On the other side of the old -age scale, the Roger Fernandes Portuguese stands: in 2022 it ran for SC Braga at the age of 16, two months and 27 days – as early as no other. Dante told “Transfermarkt.de” his recipe for success like this: “Football is played with the head, the legs are just the tool.” Communication, game intelligence and anticipation are crucial.