"Yes, I will be 41 years old but in my position that is not an important factor," said Ceni speaking after winning the Campeonato Brasileiro title. Why does he want to play until 2014, though? According to Ceni:
"I think I can play until 2014 because I want to play the World Cup here in my country. I don't want to stop in 2010."
I really don't want to be the nay-sayer to what many will receive as a wonderful announcement from Ceni, but does he really expect to "play [in] the World Cup" in Brazil in 2014? His World Cup career has seen him on the team as #3 in 2002, and #2 in 2006 where he made his debut and logged a total of 10 minutes of playing time. It already appears that Julio Cesar and Doni are ahead of him on the depth charts for 2010, so does he really think he can make the climb over the next 7 years and get himself on the field again?
I really do love Rogerio Ceni, but he is riding a wave of cult popularity right now, and I think it may be clouding his judgement. He has never been Brazil's #1 and struggled to get to #2 at 33 years old. What makes him think that he can be #1 at 41 years old? I don't say any of these things to diminish any of his club accomplishments, but Ceni simply has not yet proven to be an international-class goalkeeper and I don't think another 7 years is going to make a difference. At best he will be representing his country as #3 in 2014, not playing.
0 comments:
Post a Comment