Premier League cult hero is still scoring goals at 42 – with his ex-Blackburn team-mate also netting on the same weekend as former Rovers duo prove age is just a number
- The two players both turned out for Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League
- They played a total of 428 games for the Lancashire club including 68 together
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’
Two former Blackburn Rovers stars were on target for their respective clubs at the weekend at the age of 42.
Both players now ply their trades in their native countries, having left the now-Championship outfit in the early 2010s.
Since departing Ewood Park, they have accumulated a total of 12 clubs between them as their careers dwindled toward their twilight years, after spending the bulk of their playing days in the top five European divisions.
They played 428 for Rovers, although that is heavily weighted towards one of the ex-Brighton cult heroes, who managed a whopping 348 games, in which he scored 47 times and assisted a further 66.
However, despite being somewhat longer in the tooth, both ex-English top-flight stars turned back the clocks at the weekend to show that they are still fit and firing at 42 years of age.
A former Blackburn Rovers midfielder scored at the age of 42 at the weekend at his new club
The veteran’s former team-mate was also in action – and got on the scoresheet too at the same age
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The former Blackburn stars were legendary Norwegian midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen and Paraguayan hitman Roque Santa Cruz, who also had spells with Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Malaga.
Pedersen’s goal was testament to his former range-hitting abilities, netting for Norwegian second-tier side Ranheim IL.
With his side looking to make an early impact against Jerv, Pedersen applied the finishing touches to a neat passing move from outside the box after just five minutes of action in front of a home crowd.
In his 18th game for the club, the veteran midfielder netted his fourth goal for the club he joined this year, and has provided two further assists in his time in Trondheim in southern Norway.
As for Santa Cruz, who has an astounding record of having score in every year since 1998, it was a bullet header for Libertad who are based in Paraguayan capital Asuncion at the weekend that went viral on social media.
Libertad came out the victors in a 5-1 win against Guairena in Paraguay’s top-flight, with Santa Cruz scoring the fourth of the game, with the hosts already down to 10 and heading for one-way traffic.
During their time at Blackburn, Pedersen and Santa Cruz turned out in the same team on no fewer than 68 occasions – all but 12 of the Paraguayan’s games for Rovers – and combined for five goals.
In comparison to their exploits at 42, the oldest ever scorer in the Premier League was Teddy Sheringham at 40 and eight months for West Ham in a 2-1 loss to Portsmouth.
Morten Gamst Pedersen scored a trademark long range goal for new Norwegian side Ranheim
Roque Santa Cruz now turns out for Paraguayan outfit Libertad in the striker’s home country
The two played a combined 68 games together for the Lancashire club in the Premier League
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