Veteran Japanese footballer Kazuyoshi Miura will continue to play at 55

At almost 55 years old, Kazuyoshi Miura, a Japanese soccer star, will continue to play in the Japanese fourth division, local press reveals on Sunday.

Nicknamed “King Kazu,” the player is currently training in Osaka and hopes to play until he is 60 years old. A wish he could make as he is about to sign for the Suzuka Point Getters club in the Japan Football League (JFL), the fourth category of your country’s championship, led by his older brother, Yasutoshi Miura.

Miura will turn 55 in February, a symbolic figure, identical to the total of his goals with the Japanese team (55 in 89 international matches).

“The team is almost 100% in accordance with my wishes,” the player confirmed to the local press, after claiming in mid-December that “I still have the passion.”

“I want a club with a clear vision, capable of aspiring to promotion,” he added.

Last year, Miura had already improved his record as the oldest footballer in Japan, playing the J-League (first division) with Yokohama FC, which he would have proposed to follow this season. But Miura had only played a minute and his team had finished last of the championship.

Recognized as one of the most popular players in the 90s, Miura, who will turn 55 on February 26, had started his professional career at the Brazilian club Santos in 1986. He also played for Genoa (Serie A), Croatia Zagreb and FC Sydney, scoring 222 goals in 853 professional matches.

True legend of Japan, however, he was not included in the team that played its first World Cup in 1998 in France. He consoled himself by also becoming a futsal international in 2012, at the age of 45. (D)