Mass retirements
Juninho Pernambucano and Roberto Carlos have both retired from internation football. Juninho, 31,who has been critical of Brazil’s performances at this World Cup, said it was time for the thirty-somethings to retire to allow the rebuilding of the squad for 2010 to begin. Roberto Carlos followed his team-mate’s advice, retiring after 132 matches and 11 goals for the Seleçao at the age of 33.
Finally, Asia’s first football superstar Hidetoshi Nakata retired from football altogether at the age of 29. Nakata was the original pioneer, showing Europeans that the combination of the words “Japanese” and “footballer” were not a bad joke as he played for clubs such as Perugia, Roma, Parma, Fiorentina, Marseilles and Bolton. Nakata’s last match is probably going to be one he would want to forget, a 4-1 thrashing by Brazil….
