Ze Roberto too old for Bayern, but good enough to beat them

HAMBURG - At the end of last season, Bayern Munich’s 35-year-old Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto was considered too old to be offered a two-year extension on his contract and he moved to Bundesliga rival SV Hamburg instead.

On Saturday Ze Roberto was instrumental in helping his new club to a 1-0 victory over Bayern - a win that keeps the club from northern Germany at the top of the table with 17 points from seven matches.

Bayern are six points adrift in sixth place.

The Brazilian not only assisted Mladen Petric for the winning goal in the 72nd minute, he simply impressed with his play throughout the 90 minutes.

“If I continue playing the way I have been doing, I have good chances of getting back into the Brazilian national side,” he said after helping Hamburg beat his old club.

For Hamburg Ze Roberto is not only provider, he is also goalscorer himself, having already scored three times, as well as midfield general.

On Saturday he received praise from former team-mate Philipp Lahm. “That he is a sensational player we knew before the game already,” the defender said.

Bayern manager Uli Hoeness was less reluctant to talk about why his club had not extended Ze Roberto’s contract by two years, saying that if old players received long contracts, then young players like Thomas Mueller and Holger Badstuber would have to be loaned out.

“That would not be a clever thing to do.”

On Saturday after the game Hoeness might have thought differently.