FORMER Brazil striker Romario announced his retirement Monday at 42, ending a career in which he won the World Cup, was involved in numerous controversies and claimed to have scored more than 1,000 goals.

“Officially I’m not playing any more. I’ve stopped,” Romario said at a DVD launch. “My time is up. Everything has been a lot of fun.”

Romario played for Brazil in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, scoring five goals to help Brazil win the latter tournament. He made 73 appearances for his country between 1987 and 2005, scoring 56 goals.

He had four stints with Vasco da Gama, where he started and finished his career, and also played for Flamengo and Fluminense in Brazil, Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Valencia.

Romario also had spells with Al Sadd in Qatar, Miami FC in the United States and Adelaide United in Australia.

“These last 20 years for me have been very positive,” said Romario, regarded as one of the game’s top goal poachers. “To be honest, I’m stopping because I don’t see myself in any shape to continue playing.”

Last May, Romario scored what he claimed was his 1,000th goal but admitted that many of these were scored in friendlies, youth and testimonial games.

(SD-Agencies)