SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -
Veteran star Romario practiced with minnow Brazilian club Tupi on Wednesday, but the striker's debut with his new club was still uncertain because of a missed transfer deadline.
Romario last played for USL club Miami FC before deciding to return to Brazil.
Tupi FC, which earned promotion to the first division of the Minas Gerais state championship, signed the 40-year-old Romario on Monday, but the Brazilian soccer confederation refused to register the player because the period for international transfers ended Aug. 31.
Club lawyers were pleading with the CBF to allow Romario to play on Thursday in Tupi's match against Democrata in the Minas Gerais Cup.
"Our lawyers are doing everything that's possible to allow him to play," club director Antonio Braga told local media.
Romario, who says he needs 16 goals to reach his 1,000 in his career, played this past season for Miami FC, an expansion club in the United Soccer Leagues First Division which has an April-September season.
He also has reached a deal to play four games with Australian team Adelaide United in November and December in the A-League soccer competition.
Romario, who led Brazil's to its fourth world title in the 1994 World Cup in the United States, formerly played for several top teams including Spain's Barcelona and Valencia, Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, and Brazil's Vasco da Gama.
