That’s love for a shirt! 5 players who never changed teams

Football players who achieved what few dare to do: dedicate their entire career to the same club

Football players who achieved what few dare to do: dedicate their entire career to the same club

When talking about footballers who spent their entire careers playing for a single team, someone like Francesco Totti, who lasted 25 seasons wearing Italy's AS Roma shirt, surely comes to mind, according to the newspaper As. However, there are other figures that had eyes for a single team, among them there are three South Americans.

Leer en español: ¡Eso es amor por una camiseta! 5 futbolistas que nunca cambiaron de equipo

Manuel Pellegrini

The current West Ham United coach of the first division of English football has a little-known past as a player. Pellegrini was part of the University of Chile, an iconic team of the Chilean first division. There, he played a total of 315 games between 1973 and 1986, served as a central defender and converted 7 goals, the same number of red cards he received, reported La Tercera.

Carles Puyol

One of the central defenses with more character and bravery of this last century. Puyol spent four years playing for Barcelona B, the club's second team, while in October 1999 he made his debut with the first team. From there, the Spanish would continue being part of the Blaugrana club until 2014, adding 18 years in the Catalan club, according to Goal. During the 593 games played by the central defender, he scored 19 goals and won 21 titles at the club level, including 3 Champions League, according to Marca.

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Ricardo Bochini

The Argentine midfielder not only devoted all his football career to Independiente de Argentina, but he is also remembered as a legend by the capital club. Bochini made his debut in the first Independiente team in 1971, and 20 years later, in May 1991, he announced his retirement from the red club after 631 games.

With Bochini in the team, Independiente would raise four of the seven Copa Libertadores that the team owns – the club with the largest number of Libertadores won- adding a total of 13 tournaments won with the club, notes the web portal Fútbol Tactico.

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Gary Neville

The English right-back became an icon of Manchester United after having been part of the team from the 1995 season until his retirement in February 2011, according to the Manchester United website.

With the shirt of the English team, the right side managed to play 602 games with the 'red devils', in which he scored 7 goals. Neville also won a Champions League in a generation of players such as David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, and Paul Scholes, also celebrated eight English leagues and three Cups, according to El País.

Rogerio Ceni

The Brazilian goalkeeper became a myth of Sao Paulo, starting with his professional debut in June 1993 when Sao Paulo played in the Santiago de Compostela Trophy held in Tenerife. From there, everything would be history: Ceni would retire at 42 years of age with 1,237 games played in 25 years of career, according to El País.

Rogerio Ceni would not stand out for his great saves, but for the unusual number of goals he scored despite being a goalkeeper: 131 goals, becoming the goalkeeper with the most goals made. Ceni would be the champion of two Copa Libertadores, three Brazilian Leagues, one Copa Sudamericana and other regional titles, notes El País.

LatinAmerican Post | Juan Bacallado

Translated from: '¡Eso es amor por una camiseta! 5 futbolistas que nunca cambiaron de equipo'

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