He turns 35 in January, but Yasuhito Endo, Japan's most-capped player, says he has no intention of taking his foot off the pedal as he enters his 13th year with the senior national team.
Endo has enjoyed an outstanding 2014 season and was deservedly named J. League Player of the Year after helping Gamba Osaka win a domestic league and cup treble following the disappointment of Japan's early exit at the World Cup in Brazil in the summer.
Now he says he is looking forward to a record fourth appearance with Japan at the Asian Cup in Australia in January and has given the Samurai Blue every chance of defending the title they won in Qatar in 2011.