World Football: 15 Players Who Got Better in Their 30s

They say with age comes experience. Well the guys on this list had tons of it.

Getting to the age of 30 in any sport can be tough, and for footballers who have to be running for 90 minutes nonstop, it can lead to a decline in their level of play.

In some cases the player somehow defies the odds to get better. These players usually either reinvent their game, reinvent themselves positionally, put in some high quality performances or have a mixture of all three.

Players have to be at least 32 to get on this list. Why? They had to show at least some consistency for more than one year.

Keeping all that in mind, here is a list of 15 players who get better in their 30's.

Xavi

Even though he is 32, Xavi still holds the keys to the engine room for Barcelona.

The Barcelona midfielder has seemingly rekindled his scoring touch with 10 goals in all competitions for Barcelona so far this season. That is compared to hauls of five and six in previous years.

Xavi's game is not all about the statistics though. His two third place Ballon d'Or rankings in 2010 and 2011, as well as countless other awards such as La Liga midfielder of the year 2011, shows that the Catalan playmaker is playing better than ever.

Fabio Cannavaro

In 2006, Fabio Cannavaro won the FIFA World Player of the Year at the age of 33 and was the first, and so far only, defender to do so. He also won the Ballon d'Or that same year.

Cannavaro's positional awareness and vision helped him greatly when he touched the 30-year-old mark. His performances in the 2006 World Cup, and with Real Madrid after, showed that age was no barrier to his play.

Paolo Maldini

Age was definitely not a problem for Paolo Maldini. He showed defenders how to still perform at the highest level despite losing certain physical attributes.

Just like with Cannavaro, Maldini's positional awareness and vision were key in his continued success as a defender. His great form was recognized with a third place Ballon d'Or placing, some UEFA Team of the Year awards, and being awarded as the best defender in the 2007 Champions league, at the age of 39.

Craig Bellamy

Craig Bellamy may not have reached the height of some of his more illustrious colleagues on this list, but he has one thing in common with them. He has gotten better.

Since joining Manchester City in 2009, Bellamy has become a more cerebral player as evidenced by his increased assist tally during this time, with hauls of 12, 11 and in this current season he has six.

He has notched some very important goals for Liverpool this season and that is a result of his experience.

Peter Schmeichel

Goalkeepers are the ones who usually get better with age, and Peter Schmeichel is the first on this list.

Schmeichel turned 30 during his time with Manchester United and for the remainder of his brilliant career he was on top of the game.

The countless amount of awards Manchester United won in the 90's could not have happened without a keeper who got better as time went on. He's earned numerous individual awards, including this Save of the Decade at the age of 34.

Eric Abidal

Eric Abidal has become a better player while playing for Barcelona.

His talent and skill were known from his days in France, but he has become a much more experienced and skilled defender during his time with the Catalans. Especially since 2009, when Barcelona's dominance began and Abidal turned 30.

There has been an improvement in his technical skills and his defensive attributes as well. He was chosen as the Best Defender in La Liga last year.

Kasey Keller

Kasey Keller played most of his career in Europe and is probably the greatest American keeper ever. His big move came in 2001 when he transferred from Rayo Vallecano to Tottenham at the age of 32.

After a few games, he ended up winning the starting spot. He would keep that spot for a few years before then moving on to Borussia Mönchengladbach in Germany, and repeating the feat to be named No. 1 at the club.

Brad Friedel

At the age of 40, Brad Freidel is a top goalkeeper on an English Premier League title challenger. Freidel moved to England to play for Liverpool, but his career kicked off when he moved to Blackburn Rovers in 2000.

Freidel became an impressive player in between the sticks for Blackburn and has been generally one of the better goalkeepers in the Premier League. That continued when he moved to Aston Villa in 2008 and is most certainly on show now at Tottenham.

Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane was good at Bordeaux, great at Juventus and outstanding at Real Madrid. He scored more goals at the Spanish side, and was undoubtedly the best player on a team full of star quality.

His performances in the 2006 World Cup were fun to watch and despite how his tournament ended, he was awarded World Cup Golden Ball.

David Beckham

David Beckham reinvented himself during his time in the MLS and is a better player as a result. Beckham always had the pinpoint passing but other attributes helped him get on this list.

His increased vision and more cerebral outlook while playing the game allows him to take the stage as a central midfielder more often than not for his club.

Ryan Giggs

Ryan Giggs has had a similar reinvention to his former teammate. The fact that Giggs is still one of the top footballers in the world is testament to this reinvention.

Manchester United and English Premier League fans have seen the Welshman take up central roles for his club. He has been able to succeed thanks to his superb technique and his increased vision and awareness.

This is also shown in the fact that he was still selected to the Premier League Team of the Year in 2006-07 and 2008-09 as well as being named the Welsh Footballer of the Year in 2006.

Christian Abbiati

Christian Abbiati started his career in Milan and after a roundabout road, he asserted himself as the clubs No. 1 at the age of 31.

Abbiati's career with Milan started off brightly and he had numerous appearances for the club from 1998-99 to 2001-02.

From that point on Abbiati rarely saw any games and was loaned out on three separate occasions where he impressed enough to be given the chance to solve Milan's goalkeeper problems.

Antonio Di Natale

Antonio Di Natale has improved as a goalscorer with age. In 2006-07, the last season before he turned 30, he had 11 goals and three assists.

Since that time his statistics have gone like this;

2007-08, 17 goals and seven assists

2008-09  16 goal and six assists

2009-10  29 goals and six assists

2010-11  28 goals and seven assists

He already has 19 goals and five assists this season.

Juan Sebastian Veron

Juan Sebastian Veron reinvented himself when he went back to Argentina to play for Estudiantes in 2006 at the age of 30. The playmaker's spell in Europe wasn't the worse, but it wasn't what was expected of him.

Since being in Argentina, Veron has been in great form and his abilities enabled him to be named South American Footballer of the year twice—in 2008 and 2009.

Veron also returned to the national team and received regular call-ups until his retirement in 2010.

Edwin Van Der Sar

Edwin Van der Sar definitely seemed to get better with age. His performances for Manchester United enabled them to win over 10 trophies while he was at the club.

He won the Barclays Golden Glove in 2008-09 as well as an award for the Best European Goalkeeper in 2009. He also posted a impressive record of 1,311 minutes without conceding in the 2008-09 season.