Veteran Japanese player Kazuyoshi Miura, 57, declared this Tuesday (25) that he sees no reason to hang up his boots and announced that he will return to Japan after a spell in Portuguese football.
The gray-haired striker, nicknamed ‘King Kazu’ in his home country, will play for fourth-division club Atletico Suzuka, on loan from second-division side Yokohama FC.
The last two seasons, Miura played in the Portuguese second division for Oliveirense, also on loan from Yokohama.
“I’m not thinking about retiring,” he said at a press conference. “My passion for the game continues to be very strong. My passion has not faded.”
Miura debuted as a professional in 1986 for Santos, which was not his only club in Brazilian football. He also played for Juventus-SP, Santos, Matsubara-PR, CRB, XV de Jaú and Coritiba.
Throughout his career, he also played for clubs in Italy, Croatia and Australia.
‘King Kazu’ was one of the best-known players in Asia in the 1990s and a pioneer in Japan’s professional league, the J-League, in 1993.
For the Japanese national team, he debuted in 1990, but stopped being called up after the elimination of the ‘Blue Samurai’ in the 1998 World Cup, despite scoring 55 goals in 89 international games.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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