Watching Villarreal’s Robert Pires bustling around the pitch during Sunday’s match against Atletico Madrid, you would think he was in his mid twenties rather than his mid thirties.

The former Arsenal midfielder, who spent six seasons in London before joining the Spanish Primera Liga side in 2006, turns 35 today and says he is playing some of the best football of his long career.

Villarreal were leading 10-man Atletico 4-2 when Pires was taken off and they immediately seemed to lose their shape, conceding two late goals to draw 4-4. Before his substitution, the Frenchman was the fulcrum of the team, launching attacks with good distribution and cleverly winning free kicks in key areas.

“In my head and above all in my body I feel young,” Pires said in an interview published in Wednesday’s Marca newspaper. “I have been playing football for more than 15 years and I am enjoying it like it was the first day and that’s the most important thing.”

Pires, a World Cup and European Championships winner with France, said two serious knee injuries had helped him prolong his career.

“Not playing for almost two years delayed the end of my career and helped me rest my body,” he said. “I will play until I am no longer physically able. It will be the day I wake up and I have no desire to go to training.”

Pires told Villarreal’s website he thinks he can carry on at the top level for one or two more years and then he hopes to become a pundit or sporting director at a soccer club.

“I always knew that I wasn’t just coming (to Spain) to enjoy the sun and eat paella,” he said. “And I have proved it.”

PHOTO: Villarreal’s Robert Pires is challenged by Celtic’s Aiden McGeady during their Champions League match at the Madrigal stadium in Villarreal, September 30, 2008. REUTERS/Heino Kalis