'Age is just a number' - Isaak Hayik, 73, after he's crowned world’s oldest football player

Isaak Hayik of Or Yehuda, Israel, has set a new world record as the oldest active player in a professional soccer match after tending the goal for Ironi Or Yehuda in an April 5 game against Maccabi Ramat Gan.

Hayik, who turns 74 this week, was officially recognised with a Guinness World Records certificate after the game presented by a Guinness representative from London.

Hayik had written to the organisation inviting them to the game, thinking he would break a record as the world’s oldest goalie. To his surprise, the organisation informed him that he broke the record for the oldest overall footballer in a pro game, previously held by Robert Carmona of Uruguay, who played at age 53 in 2015.

“This is not only a source of pride for me but also to Israeli sports in general,” Hayik says of the recognition. reporters. He also noted that some of his teammates that day were the grandsons of players with whom he’d kicked around a soccer ball 50 or 60 years ago.

He adds: “Age is just a number. Always know that you can realise every dream if you just believe in yourselves. Shabbat Shalom from me, the oldest active footballer in the world.”

Hayik was born in Iraq and emigrated to Israel with his parents when he was four years old after the creation of the state prompted anti-Jewish actions in Middle Eastern and North African countries.

Speaking about his father’s stamina, his son, Moshe, 36, shares that when he played soccer with his father as a child, “I used to get tired before he did. He is unbelievable.”

A version of this story appeared on the Israel21c website.