"Returning to active duty because of Guinness Book Records?" Japanese legend Honda Why he joined the Singapore Professional League at 40 "Now 11th country"

*This content was translated by AI.

Japanese soccer legend Keizuke Honda (40) will return to the ground as an active player for the first time in about two years. He will join F.C. Jurong in the first division of professional football in Singapore.

The Jurong club announced on its official channel on the 10th that it has signed a contract with Honda for the 2026-2027 season. According to the club, Honda's official joining will be in August.

In the past, Jurong operated as "Alvirex Niigata Singapore", a satellite club of Albirex Niigata in the J League. Jurong, who brought Honda, explained, "This recruitment aims to create new value for the club beyond simple player contracts and further contribute to the development of Singapore's soccer community as a whole."

As a result, Honda will take the professional stage again in more than two years after signing a short-term contract with Paro FC in the first division of Bhutan to play the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge League playoffs in the summer of 2024. Singapore is Honda's 11th country to leave Japan as a professional player.

Honda started his professional career with the Nagoya Grampus in 2005 and went through major European leagues such as VVV-Penro (the Netherlands), CSKA Moscow (Russia), and AC Milan (Italy). Since then, he has continued his career by wandering around the world, including Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, and Bhutan. In particular, when he was a member of Melbourne Victory in Australia in 2018, he also took an unusual step as the head coach of the Cambodian national team.

He also has a clear footprint as a member of the Japanese national team. He scored 37 goals in 98 A matches, becoming the first Japanese player to score three consecutive World Cup tournaments (2010, 2014 and 2018). In addition, he still holds the record for the most goals scored in the World Cup finals by an Asian player with four goals in nine games.

Honda said through the club, "I'm very happy to have the opportunity to play in Jurong." "We are facing several personal challenges ahead of our 40-year-old age this year, and one of them is to score in the top league of the most countries and reach the Guinness World Record," he said, expressing his passion.

"The most important goal of this club is to win the league," he said, adding, "It won't be an easy journey due to the presence of strong rivals, but I will definitely lift the trophy."

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*This content was translated by AI.