In October, OGC Nice captain Dante blew out 40 candles on his birthday cake, but his footballing career shows no signs of extinguishing, even despite what looked like a career-ending ACL injury at the ripe age of 37.
670 matches in over 21 years – and counting. Dante, having won the Champions League and four Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, arrived in Nice seven years ago. After spells at Lille, Charleroi, Standard Liège, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Wolfsburg, Nice looked like the final stop on his not-so whistle-stop tour of Europe – an epilogue of sorts.
“Lots of people thought I’d only stay two or three years when I arrived – me too by the way,” said Dante, aptly nicknamed the ‘commanDante’, at the start of the season.
Whilst he hopes to finish his career with Les Aiglons, his time with the club has been less an epilogue, but rather a whole new chapter, or two.
‘I feel even better than other years’ – Dante
“Dante is a book,” said his centre-back partner Jean-Clair Todibo after Nice’s 1-0 victory over Metz earlier in October. “He writes it himself. He has so much experience and played at the top, top level,” continued the France international.
In the words of sporting director Florent Ghisolfi, the immovable Dante “reassures others.” More than that, he has come to incarnate the identity of the club. “He brings us a lot of guarantees. He perfectly embodies the expectations and the identity that we want to impart on this team, and more globally, the expectations and the identity of the club,” said Ghisolfi.
Speaking at the start of the season, Dante said he isn’t approaching this season as if it is his last. “I’ll make a decision after [the season]. I feel even better than in other years,” said the Brazilian. Dante, however, has said that he won’t play until 43, as his compatriot and former Lens, Marseille and Montpellier defender Hilton did. “I won’t pass Hilton, that is certain, but I’d prefer to say that this isn’t my final year,” revealed Dante.
Last season, Dante started all but one of Nice’s Ligue 1 fixtures, playing 4,440 minutes in all competitions for the club over the course of the campaign, and this season, he has played every single minute at the heart of the best defence in the league. For Dante, the years tick on, but his influence doesn’t wane.
