Car racing beckons for retiring keeper Abbondanzieri

ABU DHABI (Reuters) -- Former Argentina and Boca Juniors goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri may have a go at car racing after retiring from soccer at the end of the Club World Cup.

Abbondanzieri, reserve keeper for Brazil's Internacional, said on Sunday he was quitting the game after winning a string of titles with Boca and helping Argentina reach the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals in Germany.

"Motor racing? I like it a lot, it's a passion of mine," he told reporters before a training session with South American champions Internacional.

"I've been to races, I've driven, all on the quiet. I'm only talking now because football is ending (for me)," Abbondanzieri said laughing.

"It's a different sort of adrenaline, it's all or nothing."

Internacional, who won the world title in Japan in 2006, meet TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday looking for a place in their second final.

Abbondanzieri, having lost his place at Boca last year, joined Inter and helped them win the Libertadores Cup, his fourth South American title having lifted it three times with Boca.

The 38-year-old known by his nickname Pato is, however, now a reserve to Renan but he loves training and the chance to perhaps step in to play once more.

"I'm enjoying every day as if it's the last because it's coming to an end ... I don't think I'll feel sadness because I did all I wanted to achieve and I know what life I want to lead after football, I'm ready," he said.

"It's logical that with Boca I'd have liked to say goodbye in a packed Bombonera but that's football ... I had to come to Inter where I've been treated as a Brazilian like them."