Romario to play in Brazil between Adelaide games

SAO PAULO, Oct 10 (Reuters) Brazilian forward Romario has signed a deal to play for little-known provincial club Tupi in between playing for Australia's Adelaide United.

However, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said it was unlikely to register the 40-year-old because he had missed the transfer deadline.

Romario, who signed a deal with Adelaide on Sept. 29 after ending his contract with US-based Miami FC, is looking to score 1,000 career goals and says he is only 16 short of that mark.

Tupi's General Manager Antonio Braga said todsay Romario would play in a regional competition against Democrata on Thursday, before flying to Australia to play a friendly for Adelaide.

Braga said Romario would then return to Brazil and play four more games for Tupi, who are based in Juiz de Fora in the state of Minas Gerais.

After that, he will play four games for Adelaide starting on Nov.

25.

Luiz Gustavo de Castro, director of the CBF's transfer and registers department, said this season's deadline for players moving to Brazil from foreign clubs had ended on Aug. 31.

''It won't be possible to register him,'' he told Reuters.

''We follow FIFA guidelines and have to respect them.'' Romario scored 20 goals in 27 matches for Miami, who play in the United Soccer Leagues rather than the more prestigious Major League Soccer.

The Brazilian media have long questioned Romario's total, however, saying it includes goals from youth team matches and training games.

Earlier this year, Vasco da Gama, where Romario played before joining Miami, declared some pre-season practice games as official friendlies to give Romario a better chance of pushing his total towards the 1,000 mark.

Romario spearheaded the attack when Brazil won the 1994 World Cup. He has played for Dutch clubs PSV Eindhoven, Spain's Barcelona and Valencia and Brazilian clubs Flamengo, Vasco and Fluminense.

Reuters AY GC0957