Age limitations don’t mean much in Football.
While fans might be quick to place judgment on older players and be harsh on younger ones, the truth is, you can ball out on the pitch no matter the age.
Chelsea’s veteran defender Thiago Silva is a perfect example of this, the Brazilian has aged like fine wine and he continues to drop consistently clinical performances in the Premier League at the age of 38.
What he lacks in pace, the defender has made up for through his vast experience, Silva is usually a few steps ahead of his opposite number.
To support the flip side of this argument, there are many obvious candidates: young ballers who continue to wow fans with their excellence and raw talent.
Nestled atop that list is 19-year-old Jude Bellingham, a top-class midfielder with maturity beyond his years.
The England International is easily among the most sought-after talents in the world, with capabilities stretching far beyond what one might expect from a 19-year-old.
Bellingham is a tireless worker off the ball while having plenty of creative abilities in possession, he can also pitch in with goals and assists when required.
Perhaps the biggest testament to his talent is the fact that Bellingham is currently BVB’s captain, a position he was selected for ahead of senior squad members Emre Can and Raphael Guerreiro.
In summary, the pair provide plenty of credibility to our initial argument, and yesterday they faced off against each other at the Signal Iduna Park for Chelsea’s Round of 16 tie against Dortmund.
Silva and Bellingham were also the appointed captains for their respective sides, and images of the two standing together for the coin flip even left fans online gawking at their screens.
While we’ve certainly done enough to outline the age difference between the two, seeing them lead their teams out and exchange banners really helped contextualize exactly how far apart in age they are.
More precisely, Silva and Bellingham share an age difference of 19 years, meaning that when Silva was 19 and playing for Juventude, Bellingham hadn’t even been born.
Fast forward 19 years later and the pair share a similar honour at the same stage, an equally impressive achievement for both players, especially with their ages considered.
On the night, it was the youngster who ended up being the happier skipper, as Dortmund picked a 1-0 victory on the back of a goal from Karim Adeyemi.
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