Japan's Miura considers San Jose offer
Posted: Friday October 23, 1998 04:17 PM
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Miura, who scored 54 goals in 86 international appearances, was voted the fourth best player of the century in Asia Mike Powell/Allsport |
TOKYO (Reuters) -- Japanese striker Kazuyoshi Miura, one of Asia's most celebrated players, has been approached by Major League Soccer's San Jose Clash.
The 31-year-old Verdy Kawasaki forward, who has played in Brazil and Italy, is considering the offer after an unhappy year in which he lost his place in the national team and was omitted from Japan's World Cup squad.
"If I move, the environment is more important than the financial terms," said Miura, who scored 54 goals in 86 international appearances. The San Jose club is partly owned by Japanese advertising agency Dentsu.
Recently Miura was voted the fourth best player of the century in Asia by the Germany-based International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
Miura, who was known as "King Kazu" by his army of fans during the early years in the J.League, left Japan as a teenager to learn his trade in Sao Paulo and eventually won a place in the Santos first team.
He transferred back to Japan and his current club in 1990 and was voted Player of the Year in the professional league's inaugural season in 1993.
The following year he joined Genoa in Italy's Serie A on loan from Verdy but returned after one season.
MLS is a single-entity league and any foreign player signing would be negotiated by the league office. MLS would then allocate the player to a particular team.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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