Tireless Herentals FC boss (54) honoured for reaching 200 league games
Check who the world's oldest professional footballer is.
By Sports Reporter
Herentals FC owner and Zimbabwe’s oldest ever professional footballer Innocent Benza (54) on Tuesday played his 200th game in the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League, marking a milestone in his career.
The Zanu PF MP and owner of Herentals Group of Colleges took the bold decision to play in the country’s top flight football when his team got promoted into the premier league in March, 2018.
He has never looked back and has often been a subject of amusement among football fans who see the funny side of the ageless businessman slugging it out with much younger players week in and week out.
Benza plays along with his son Tino (24) who has been a star performer for his team and in the domestic league, earning spots on the Soccer Stars of the Year list in 2022 and 2023.
On Tuesday, he was honoured for the milestone although his team lost 2-1 to Ngezi Platinum in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer league clash played at Rufaro stadium.
Benza is however not the oldest professional footballer in the world as the record is currently held by 59-year-old Kazuyoshi “Kazu” Miura a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for J3 League club Fukushima United.
He played for the Japan national team from 1990 to 2000, scoring 55 goals and boasting of 89 caps for the national team.
Miura holds the records for being the oldest goalscorer in J-League history at 50 and the footballer who played professional football in five separate decades (1980s–2020s).
