Veteran Brazilian striker Romario has denied he was quitting professional football, hours after a published interview quoted him as saying he would retire.

The interview was published in the Brazilian daily O Dia. 'I in no way stopped playing football. I am unemployed and waiting to receive offers,' the 42-year-old player surprisingly told TV Globo late Friday.

Earlier, he had been quoted as saying something quite different. 'I will no longer play football. I am no longer in a position (to keep playing),' Romario had reportedly said.

The striker's contract with Vasco da Gama expires Sunday.

Romario - who last year scored the 1,000th goal in his career, by his own controversial count - did not rule out further work at Vasco's Rio de Janeiro arch-rival, Flamengo.

'Depending on the proposal, I may be interested in it. But there is nothing for now. Now that I stopped playing I will have to do something,' he had told O Dia.

Romario last played Nov 4, in Vasco's 2-1 defeat to Internacional Porto Alegre.

He was also Vasco's coach until February, when he resigned over differences with club president Eurico Miranda.

Also in February, Romario was allowed to play again, when Brazil's top sports court revoked a 120-day ban imposed on the striker in December. The player tested positive for the doping substance finasteride, found in medication against hair loss that he had used for several years.