Cameroon striker Mboma hangs up his boots

Cameroon striker Patrick Mboma heads the ball during a training session in June 2002. Mboma ended his playing career in Japan, after 12 years which brought him gold medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the African Nations Cups in 2000 and 2002.

Cameroon striker Patrick Mboma ended his playing career in Japan, after 12 years which brought him gold medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the African Nations Cups in 2000 and 2002.

"Having suffered from a series of injuries, I realise that the time has come for me to end my active career," the 34-year-old former international, now with J-League side Vissel Kobe, said in a statement on Monday.

"It is all too clear that football has given me full satisfaction amid applause from many fans," said Mboma, who has spent his club years mostly in Europe and Japan and played for his country in the 1998 and 2002 World Cup finals.

A farewell ceremony for the 2000 African Footballer of the Year, who has been with Kobe since last August, was scheduled for Friday after a home J-League Cup match against Omiya Ardija.

"About my future, I believe I cannot leave the world of football which is my life," he said without elaborating. "I want to make a new challenge for another success following many successes which I have made on the pitch."

Since 1993, Mboma played for such clubs as Paris Saint-Germain, FC Metz, Gamba Osaka, Cagliari, Parma, Sunderland and Tokyo Verdy before moving to Kobe.

He has come to be known as "The Black Panther of Naniwa (Osaka)" through his first stint with Gamba Osaka in 1997 and 1998.

He returned to J-League in 2003 to play for Tokyo Verdy after an unimpressive stint at Libya's Al Ittihad which followed the disappointment of Cameroon's first round exit from the 2002 World Cup.

He scored four goals in four matches at the 2004 African Nations Cup before retiring from international football.

The last club year for Mboma, who has scored 33 goals in 57 international matches for the Indomitable Lions since he was first capped in 1995, was low-key as injuries limited him to just four appearances.

His club, Kobe, currently stand at the bottom of the J-League.

"I really feel sad as I am taking the important step which comes to every football player sometime. But my wonderful experience in football and love from my family will help me take it in stride," Moboma said. "Sayonara and arigato (goodbye and thank you)."