Pictures and texts: The sword is not old! Benfica officially announced the renewal of the 37-year-old Argentine Iron Guard. It is the highest dream to play in the US, Canada and Mexico World Cup.

In the early morning of June 28, Portuguese Super League giant Benfica officially announced that it would renew its contract with the team captain, 37-year-old Argentine central defender Otamendi, for one year, and the contract ended until next summer before the start of the US, Canada and Mexico World Cup. By then, the veteran will rethink the future.

Otamendi, born in February 1988, is 37 years old. He has played for well-known teams such as Porto, Atletico Minero and Valencia in his career. In August 2015, Otamendi joined the Premier League man Manchester City for 44.5 million euros. He played in 210 games in 5 seasons and earned 11 goals and 4 assists. He won 2 Premier League championships, 4 League Cup championships, 1 FA Cup championship and 2 Community Shield Cup championships with the team. In September 2020, Otamendi left the Itihad Stadium and returned to the Portuguese Super League for 15 million euros to join Benfica and have played for it so far.

As of now, Otamendi has played 231 games for Benfica, with 15 goals and 10 assists, helping the team win 4 championship trophys including the Portuguese Super League, the Portuguese Cup, the Portuguese League Cup and the Super Cup. During this period, he won the 2022 Qatar World Cup, 2021 and 2014 Copa America and 2022 European Super Cup with Argentina. In the just-concluded 2024/25 season, Otamendi played in 53 games and scored 8 goals and 4 assists in various games, including 6 goals and 2 assists in the Portuguese Premier League, and averaged 1.77 steals, 1.94 interceptions and 3.42 clearances per game, sending out 2016 passes and 10 key passes, with a passing success rate of up to 90%.

In this Club World Cup, Otamendi played three group matches as the main player, and his performance was still steady. Under his leadership, Benfica also beat Bayern to the first place in the group, thus being assigned to the upper half of the relatively weak. In the successful group stage, Otamendi, who is only 1.83 meters tall, topped the list with 29 times. In the early morning of the 29th, Benfica will compete with Premier League Blues Chelsea for a quarter-final place in the Club World Cup. The official announcement of renewal of the captain before the war was made, which was also a great morale encouragement for the entire Benfica team.

It is worth mentioning that in a recent interview, Otamendi admitted that he had received a high-paid invitation from the Sandy Vocational Union but chose to refuse. Because the 37-year-old veteran's supreme dream is to play in the US, Canada and Mexico World Cup next summer. Before this, he hopes to continue to play in a high-level league and avoid disappearing from the national team's vision. This time, Otamendi signed the contract before the start of the World Cup, hoping to play in a full state. Hopefully, this veteran’s dream will come true.