It's been a long time since the 2002 World Cup. In reality, it's been two decades. If we're being more accurate, it's just over 10 million minutes. Despite this, some of the athletes who competed in that event are still active in professional sports in 2022.This feat necessitates something truly unique. To begin, you must be excellent enough to make a World Cup squad while still in your teens or just out of them. Then you have to keep going for another 20 years as a pro, with all the physical demands and knocks that involves.
We've chosen the eight players who are, as far as we know, the only ones from the Japan and Korea tournaments who are still competing for money.
Buffon Gianluigi
The Italian goalkeeper is a football legend who has stood the test of time. He didn't even play in his first World Cup in 2002.He'd gone to the 1998 tournament in France as a backup to Gianluca Pagliuca when he was 20 years old, but he didn't play a single game.
Having taken the gloves ahead to Euro 2000, he was secure as first choice by 2002. Buffon's first World Cup, however, did not go as planned. Despite Buffon saved a contentious penalty in normal time, Italy was eliminated in the round of 16 by South Korea's extra-time golden goal.
Don't be concerned. In a spectacular career, he has gathered 11 league titles, dozens of other domestic honors, and a UEFA Cup as the penalty shootout hero in the final.
He's now back in Parma, where it all began in the mid-1990s, and he's looking forward to it.
Joacquin
As a 20-year-old at the 2002 World Cup, Joaquin was tasked with taking the fourth penalty in Spain's contentious quarter-final loss to South Korea. He missed, but considering his condition and lack of expertise, he shouldn't have been given the task in the first place.
Anyway, Joaquin, now 40, helped Real Betis win the Copa del Rey this year, the club's first major prize since he helped them win the same trophy in 2005.
We believe Joaquin is the most talented. But, to be honest, it's largely because he's the only footballer we're aware of who has attempted to hypnotize a chicken on national television.
InamotoJunichi
Inamoto was five years into his professional career by the time his home World Cup rolled around, best known in England for a brief loan at Arsenal and appearances at Fulham and West Brom.
Indeed, he had just been released by Arsenal when the tournament began, and they may have wished they hadn't because he scored two goals in the group stages, against Belgium and Russia.
Following stints in England, Turkey, Germany, and France, Inamoto returned to Japan in 2010 and has since played in the Japanese leagues.
He is now playing for Nankatsu SC, which is owned by and named after a fictional team in the popular manga Captain Tsubasa.Ono Shinji
His international team-mate, who was born just nine days after Inamoto, was at Feyenoord during the 2002 World Cup and has since played in Germany, Australia, and Japan.
He has not, however, plummeted down the division like Inamoto.
Ogbeche, Bartholomew
Ogbeche, now 37 years old, has spent the last four years in the Indian Super League.
He was a 17-year-old wonderkid in 2002, and a surprising pick in the Nigeria squad. He was a PSG player at the time and had just made his professional debut.
After two loan spells at Paris Saint-Germain, he joined UAE Pro League side Al Jazira. His career became genuinely nomadic after that, with him playing for 12 clubs in five countries, including a year with Middlesbrough in 2011-12.The game versus West Ham, which took a toll on Sam Allardyce's chewing gum, was the pinnacle of his tenure in the North East.
SantaCruz, Roque
Is he ever going to stop? Most likely not. He shouldn't, either; he's still amazing.
Santa Cruz is best remembered for crushing the Barclays in Mark Hughes' (really very excellent) Blackburn team. He's had plenty of other highlights, too, with Bayern Munich, Malaga, and as part of the crazy Paraguay group in 2002, which included nutcase goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert.
Santa Cruz ended up with 132 caps and two more World Cup appearances.
He made the controversial switch from Olimpia, where he built his career in the 1990s and had spent the previous six years, to Asuncion rivals Libertad this year.
In early May, he began the derby against Olimpia.
Kameni, Carlos
Cameroonian goalkeeper Kameni won an Olympic gold medal as a 16-year-old in 2000 and was a member of his country's senior squad when they competed in the World Cup two years later.
Cameroon was eliminated in the group stage, so he didn't participate, but he returned to football's biggest stage in 2010 and was expected to start in goal. However, manager Paul Le Guen preferred Souleymanou Hamidou, and Kameni once again watched as Cameroon was eliminated early.
He became a hero in Spain at club level, first with Espanyol, where he won the Copa del Rey and helped them reach the UEFA Cup final, and then with Malaga, where he was part of the side that reached the Champions League final.Ibrahimovic, Zlatan
The huge Swede is still going strong, scoring (on sometimes), and boasting about himself.
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