Yokohama F. Marinos left-back Dutra will celebrate his 40th birthday before the current J. League season is over, but that does not mean he intends to shift down a gear anytime soon.
Few Marinos fans thought they would see Dutra again when he left the club in 2006 following a 5½-year stint that yielded two league titles and a Nabisco Cup-winner's medal, but the Brazilian confounded expectations by returning last April and missing only one league game over the course of the season despite turning 39 last August.
Now, with his 40th birthday less than two months away, the diminutive fullback has ample reason to continue raging against the dying light. Marinos went into the May 29 to July 6 J. League shutdown third in the table, and with Sunday's Nabisco Cup quarterfinal first leg against Kashima Antlers giving the club a chance to take another step toward a first trophy since 2004, Dutra is not about to call time on his career just yet.