15 Apr 2008Romario retires

Football Referees, Players, Managers and Media

Brazilian legend Romario has announced his retirement from football at the age of 42.

The former Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Valencia striker has called time on his career after more than 1,000 goals and 73 international appearances.

Undoubtedly Romario reached his peak in 1994, when he was crowned World Player of Year and won the World Cup with Brazil.

He scored a total of 56 goals for his country and represented Brazil at the 1990 and successful 1994 World Cup tournaments.

"Officially I'm not playing any more. I've stopped. My time is up. Everything has been a lot of fun," Romario said.

"These last 20 years for me have been very positive."

The legendary attacker than admitted that he no longer feels able to compete at the level he would like to.

"To be honest, I'm stopping because I don't see myself in any shape to continue playing," added Romario.

"I haven't played since November, I've put on three or four kilos since then and, at this age, it's difficult to get back to fitness," he added.

The claim of scoring 1,000 is one which is contentious, with Romario admitting that many of these were scored in friendlies, youth matches and testimonials.

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