Japanese soccer star Kazuyoshi Miura yesterday extended his decades-long playing career at the age of 54 with a move to a fourth-tier club managed by his older brother.
Miura, known as “King Kazu,” said he would “strive to help the team win on the pitch” after joining the Suzuka Point Getters.
The move was announced at 11:11am on Jan. 11, with the former international forward set to wear the No. 11 shirt next season.
Photo: AFP
Miura, who turns 55 next month, last month said that he had offers from several clubs in Japan and overseas, after last season turning out for Yokohama in the J-League’s top flight.
He managed just one minute of league action as his team finished at the bottom of the table.
He is hoping to make more of an impact with his new side.
Miura has been at more than a dozen clubs spanning Brazil, Japan, Italy, Croatia and Australia.
“I’m thankful that I’ve been given the chance to play here,” he said in a statement released by his new club.
Miura last month said that he had been offered a new deal by Yokohama, but wanted more playing time.
Miura has said he wants to keep playing until he turns 60.
One of Asia’s best-known soccer players in the 1990s, he helped put the game on the map in Japan when the professional J-League was launched in 1993.
Miura left Japan for Brazil in 1982 and signed a contract with Santos in 1986 to make his professional debut.
He made his Japan debut in 1990 and was famously left out of his country’s squad for their first FIFA World Cup finals appearance in 1998, despite scoring 55 goals in 89 games for the national side.
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