TOKYO: Japan’s Kazuyoshi “King Kazu” Miura made his first appearance of his 40th season as a professional footballer at the weekend and shows no sign of wanting to hang up his boots any time soon.
The former international forward, who turned 58 in February, came on as a late substitute in Atletico Suzuka’s 2-1 win over YSCC Yokohama in the fourth tier of the Japanese pyramid on Sunday.
The popular striker signed an 18-month loan deal with Suzuka last June but a leg injury sustained in January had kept him on the sidelines from the start of this Japan Football League season.
“I hope to play again showing my character,” Miura told Kyodo news agency after the match.
“I managed to play thanks to the support from everyone. I’m looking to stepping up a gear from here.”
Miura made his first two appearances for Santos in the 1986 Brazilian Championship, having headed alone to South America to pursue his football dream as a 15-year-old.
He returned to Japan as an established international to join Verdy Kawasaki and helped them win the first two J.League titles in 1993 and 1994. He scored 55 goals in 89 appearances for Japan, the last of which came in 2000.
Miura, whose long club career has also included spells in Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal, still has a way to go to match Egyptian Ezzeldin Bahader’s record of turning out for a professional team at the age of 74.
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Given his commitment to the game, however, it might be foolish to write him off.
“When I was around 35 or 40, I did start saying to myself, ‘I can’t keep playing this way’,” he told FIFA.com in April.
“Rather than giving any thought to quitting, it was more about pushing myself to give more. It’s not so much that the word ‘retire’ isn’t in my vocabulary, but more that I’ve never felt any desire to do it.”
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