And who said that there are no longer “flags” in football?

Last updated: May 13, 2018

We call them “flags” or, perhaps, some already speak to the past convinced that the loyalty in football has vanished and therefore sentimentality and a sense of belonging to make room for more that counts in the modern balloon. And no more Zanetti, no more Totti, no more Maldini or Del Piero.
The reality, however, is not so bad: Cies , the Swiss study center on European football, in its latest report, has collected the list of players who have been wearing the same season in the major UEFA leagues. sweater. In short, veterans. [/ Vc_column_text] [/ vc_column] [/ vc_row]

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61 footballers have played in the same club for at least 10 years . Some wear the captain’s armband, like Buffon, others got there after having done all the apprenticeship in the youth teams like De Rossi in Rome, and then there are symbols that have written the history of the team even though they come from abroad. Messi, and one of these . And then there are clubs that have changed so many players in the recent past that they do not have a flag in the absolute sense of time: one, for example, is Crotone, who has in Martella – four seasons – the longest-time player in the squad.

You can browse the complete list here , we have chosen players with at least 12 years in the same team.

Alexander Meier – 14 seasons for Eintracht Frankfurt

Andres Iniesta – 16 seasons for Barcelona

Bruno Soriano – 12 seasons for Villareal

Christofer Heimeroth – 12 seasons for Borussia Monchengladbach (retired January 1, 2018)

Daniele De Rossi – 15 and a half seasons for Roma

David Garcia – 15 seasons in Las Palmas

Francesco Magnanelli – 13 seasons in Sassuolo

Gianluigi Buffon – 17 seasons in Juventus

Giorgio Chiellini – 13 seasons in Juventus

Imanol Agirretxe Arruti – 12 and a half seasons in Real Sociedad

Julian Maria Speroni – 14 seasons in Crystal Palace.

Laurent Pionnier – 15 and a half seasons in Montpellier

Leon Britton – 15 and a half seasons in Swansea

Lionel Messi – 14 seasons in Barcelona

Loic Perrin – 15 seasons in Saint-Etienne.

Mark Noble – 12 and a half seasons in West Ham

Marco Russ – 12 and a half seasons in Eintracht Frankfurt

Michael Carrick – 12 seasons in Manchester United

Romain Danze – 12 seasons in Rennes

Roman Weidenfeller – 16 seasons in Borussia Dortmund

Sergio Pellissier – 16 seasons and half in Chievo Verona

Sergio Ramos – 13 seasons in Real Madrid

Stefan KieBling – 12 seasons in Bayer Leverkusen

Xabi Prieto – 15 seasons in Real Sociedad

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Xabi Prieto sculpted on the shirt
On Saturday 12 May, the Real Sociedad to pay homage to its leader Xabi Prieto, decided to replace its logo with the face of the captain. Prieto has decided to retire at the end of the season and the club said with a statement:
Xabi has always worn the Real emblem. This time Real will wear him as their emblem
Despite the groin that blocked him in the pits in the second half of the season, the Basque captain entered the 3-2 game against Leganes seven minutes from the end. Xabi Prieto has put together almost 580 appearances in his career, and between teams A and B they have all been played with the shirt of the same team.
In the same match, homage was also paid to Carlos Martinez, defender since 2007 in the first team (already since 2004 in team B).

Stefan Kiessling greets Leverkusen. And Bayer greets him
After 12 seasons with the same shirt as Leverkusen, Kiessling decides to listen to his physique, so at 34 he decides to retire from football. He ends one of the most beautiful pages of modern football: 444 games, 162 goals, 75 assists and top scorer in the 2012-2013 season. Also for him seven minutes of catwalk in the 3-2 victory of the aspirin against Hannover.
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