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Brazil's Ze Roberto announces retirement at the age of 43

SAO PAULO -- Former Brazil back Ze Roberto will play his last competitive football match on Monday and retire at the age of 43.

He made the announcement on Saturday. On Monday in Sao Paulo, his Palmeiras side play Botafogo in the penultimate round of the Brazilian championship.

Ze Roberto won two Copa Americas and played in the 1998 and 2006 World Cups. He appeared in 85 games for Brazil and scored six goals and was part of the Real Madrid squad which won the Champions League in 1998.

Ze Roberto played for 10 clubs, including two stints at Bayern Munich, scoring 119 goals in the course of his career. Overall, he won 19 titles in Brazil, Spain, Germany and Qatar.

He became a club idol after helping Palmeiras to end their title drought in the 1994 Brazilian championship, in his first year as a professional.

Ze Roberto rejoined Palmeiras in 2015 and has won a Brazilian Cup and another Brazilian championship.