Romário

From humble origins, Romário was spotted in childhood when playing for Olaria, a small club from the Rio de Janeiro suburb. He was taken to the junior team of Vasco da Gama where he won two state league titles (1987, 1988) and earned his first call-ups to the national team. Romário came to international attention when he became the top scorer at the 1988 Olympic football tournament.[10]

Romário training with PSV in February 1989

Shortly after the Olympics he moved to PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Eredivisie in 1989, 1991 and 1992.[10] Renowned for his ability to operate in the confined space of the penalty box, Romário scored 165 goals in 167 games in five seasons at PSV.[7]

Driven by an unswerving belief in his abilities, Romário's laid back manner and overwhelming self-confidence would be displayed throughout his career, with Guus Hiddink, his coach at PSV, stating, "If he saw that I was a bit more nervous than usual ahead of a big game, he'd come to me and say: ‘Take it easy, coach, I'm going to score and we’re going to win'. What's incredible is that eight out of the ten times he told me that, he really did score and we really did win."[11]

Romário moved to Spain's FC Barcelona for the 1993–94 season and became part of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team", in which, along with players such as strike partner Hristo Stoichkov, midfielders José Mari Bakero, and Michael Laudrup, and prolific goalscoring defender Ronald Koeman, he helped the club win the La Liga title, while becoming the season's top goalscorer with 30 goals in 33 matches.[10] Barcelona also reached the 1994 UEFA Champions League final, where in spite of being heavy favourites to win, they eventually lost 0–4 to Milan. The buildup to the final saw Spanish newspapers already declaring Barcelona as winners, while Cruyff told his team, "You're better than them, you're going to win".[12] With Romário and Stoichkov leading the Barcelona attack, Milan defender Paolo Maldini conceded his team were underdogs, but they were spurred on by what they perceived as arrogance from Barcelona.[12] One member of the Barcelona back room staff admitted Barcelona were complacent, "We went there to collect the cup, not to compete for it."[12]

One of Romário's best performances was scoring a hat-trick in the memorable 5–0 win over Real Madrid in the El Clásico at the Camp Nou, with the spectacular opening goal seeing him drag the ball around the defender without it leaving his foot before finishing with a trademark toe-poke into the corner of the net.[6] His highlight for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League came in the two games against Manchester United where he nutmegged Peter Schmeichel to score at Old Trafford, and scored again in the 4–0 win at the Camp Nou in front of 114,000 fans.[2][14] Reflecting on the game at the Camp Nou, Manchester United captain Steve Bruce, who played in defence that night, states: "Of all the great things that happened during my career, the thing that sticks out the most is that night because we got our backsides kicked big-style. Stoichkov and Romário are still etched in my memory, especially Romário, who was arguably the best player I ever faced."[14]

Romário was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1994, after being the runner-up in 1993.[10] Although he was lauded for his performances, Romário was prone to controversy, and in 1994 he landed a left hook to Sevilla's Diego Simeone and was suspended for five games.[15] Romário left Barcelona unexpectedly in January 1995 after having a rift with coach Cruyff.[16]

In 1995, Romário returned to Brazil to play for Flamengo and spent five years there excluding two short-lasting comebacks to Spain during that period.[7] During a Copa Libertadores match against an Argentine team in 1995, Romário kicked an opposition defender on the chest in retaliation for a punch on his teammate Edmundo.[17] He began the 1996–97 season with the Spanish club Valencia but after having heated arguments with then head coach Luis Aragonés he was soon loaned back to Flamengo.[18]

Romário returned to Valencia at the beginning of 1997–98 season. With their new coach Claudio Ranieri claiming that he did not want to have any players staying at the club against their will, Romário, stating his need for good preparation for the World Cup in France, left Valencia for good after playing just six league matches in the season; once again he returned to Flamengo.[19]

Romário rejoined Vasco da Gama in 2000 and linked up again with fellow international striker Edmundo. Forming a prolific partnership, the two forwards led Vasco to the final of the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship, with Romário finishing as joint-top goalscorer with three goals. The most notable performance from the pair was a 3–1 defeat of European champions Manchester United at the Estádio do Maracanã, where Romário scored twice in three first-half minutes and Edmundo added a third before half time.[20] Having previously got on well together at Flamengo, the volatile Edmundo became jealous of Romário's privileges, stating the club was "a court, Romário the prince and [club chairman] Eurico Mirando the king".[17] After Vasco's victory a few days later, Romário replied: "Now the court is happy: the king, the prince and the fool [Edmundo]".[17]

At 34 years of age, Romário had one of the best seasons in his career while winning the Copa Mercosur and the Brazilian league title with Vasco. Romário's performance was key in the Mercosur final where Vasco faced Brazilian rivals Palmeiras from São Paulo. After splitting the first two matches, a decisive third took place in São Paulo. Palmeiras took a 3–0 lead before half-time. In the second half however, Vasco scored four goals including Romário's winner in the stoppage time, which completed his hat-trick.[21] Romário received both the South American and Brazilian Footballer of the Year awards. He finished both the 2000 and 2001 seasons as the Brazilian league's top goalscorer.[22]

From 2002 until 2004, he played for Fluminense. In February 2003, Romário signed a lucrative three-month contract in Qatar with a club Al Sadd but after a disappointing stint without scoring a goal he returned to Fluminense.[23] On 21 October 2004 he was fired from the club after a conflict with the coach. He also attacked a fan who had thrown six live chickens at him during training.[15] Romário then went back once again to play for the team he started at, Vasco da Gama. In 2005, at 39 years of age, Romário scored 22 goals in the Brazilian Championship, making him the league's top goalscorer for the third time.[10][24]

In the beginning of 2006 Romário joined Miami FC along with former 1994 FIFA World Cup teammate Zinho. He helped Miami FC reach their first ever USL-1 Playoffs, scoring 19 league goals in 25 appearances for the team.

Newly promoted Campeonato Mineiro side Tupi announced a short-term deal with Romário to play for the Juiz de Fora team in the Taça Minas. However, the Brazilian Football Confederation prohibited the transfer, claiming the contract was signed after the closing of the international transfer window. Romário did not make his debut for the club, but took part in practice sessions.[25][26]

Seen as a publicity coup of the A-League's short history, Romário was signed by AUFC Board member Mel Patzwald to the Australian A-League club Adelaide United for a 5-game guest stint. He played his first match for Adelaide United on 25 November 2006 against the Central Coast Mariners. During his final game on 15 December 2006 he finally scored a goal for Adelaide to end what many considered to be a disappointing spell with the club.[27] In January 2007 he signed a new deal with Vasco da Gama.

On 20 May 2007, Romário scored his 1000th goal, a penalty kick against Sport Recife, playing for Vasco da Gama. The Brazilian press claimed him as one of few players in professional football history to achieve this, like Pelé, Puskás, Friedenreich and Binder.[28] The 1000th goal drew much attention from both Brazilian and international press, with the game being stopped for over 20 minutes to allow for celebrations from his fans.[29][30][31][32] There is some controversy over the validity of the 1000 goals, because the number is somewhat inaccurate and Romário's research team also counted his goals in junior, friendly and non-official games.[33]

FIFA congratulated Romário on his milestone goal[34] but stated he is still officially on 929 goals, as 77 came in youth football, with others being scored in unofficial friendly matches.[35] RSSSF estimated his career tally to be 968 goals in 1188 games.[9] In 2008, Romário released a DVD with the best goals of his career totaling 900 goals in the disc.[36] Following the landmark goal, Vasco da Gama unveiled a statue of Romário at the Estádio São Januário.[37]

On 24 October 2007, it was announced that Romário would take charge of his first match as the interim manager of Vasco against Club América of Mexico in the return leg of their Copa Sudamericana quarter final and he would also participate on the field as a player. Romário, then 41 years of age, replaced Celso Roth as the manager of Vasco da Gama, and also played the match against Club América at the same time. Vasco da Gama president Eurico Miranda declared to Globo Online that Romário would be in charge of the team for the match, but it is likely to only be temporarily. On 6 February 2008 Romário objected to Miranda's intervention in team selection, so was dismissed, but remained contracted to Vasco as a player.

On 4 December 2007, Romário announced he had tested positive for finasteride (aka Propecia) after a match against Palmeiras on 28 October. He claims it was in an anti-baldness treatment; however, the drug is banned as it is a masking agent for anabolic steroids.[38]

On 5 February 2008, Romário announced his retirement both from playing and coaching, effective at the end of March. This move came somewhat unexpectedly, as fans anticipated that he would retire from playing, but not coaching. He made it clear that he will only concentrate on the FIFA Confederations Cup and helping with the 2014 FIFA World Cup. However, on 27 March, Romário denied that he had retired.

Romário announced on 15 April 2008 at his DVD launch that he would retire from the game of football.[39][40] He cited his weight as a major factor in his decision to retire from the game. Romário played for many clubs that spanned across five continents for over two decades. He scored 71 goals in 85 appearances for Brazil (including appearances and goals in the Olympics) and claimed to have scored over 1,000 club goals. Romário officially announced his retirement from playing, saying:

Officially I'm not playing any more. I've stopped. My time is up. Everything has been a lot of fun.[41]

In August 2009, Romário announced that he would come out of retirement to play for America from Rio de Janeiro. He stated that he would play for the club to fulfill his late father's wishes.[42] On 25 November 2009, Romário made his comeback. He came on during the 68th minute of the match between America and Artsul, replacing Adriano. Although he did not score, America won 2–0, which helped the club to win the Carioca Championship Second Division title.

Romário was one of the most talked about stars leading up to the 1990 World Cup in Italy, but picked up a serious injury three months before the big kick-off.[11] Despite doing everything to recover in time and being rewarded with a spot in the squad, his lack of fitness meant he was restricted to playing only 66 minutes in one match, against Scotland.[11] Brazil were eliminated in round of 16 by their rival side Argentina.[43]

In 1992, during Romário's successful season at PSV Eindhoven, he was called up to the national team for a friendly match against Germany on 16 December 1992 in Porto Alegre – Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira left Romário as a reserve, after which he expressed his dissatisfaction, saying he would not have come over from Netherlands if he had known he was not going to play. These declarations caused Parreira to ban Romário from the Brazilian team.[44]

Brazil played the first seven matches of the 1994 World Cup qualification without Romário, and suffered their first loss ever in World Cup qualifying against Bolivia. His exclusion provoked a wave of outrage, with journalists and fans calling for his return to the team.[11] Brazil had to beat or tie against Uruguay at the Maracanã Stadium to finish first of their group. Before the match against Uruguay, Parreira gave up and called Romário. Back in his beloved number 11 jersey, prior to the game Romário stated: "I already know what is going to happen: I'm going to finish Uruguay".[45] Brazil won 2–0, with Romário scoring both goals, and qualified for the World Cup. Parreira commented afterwards: "God sent Romário to the Maracanã".[45]

Romário and his 1994 teammate Dunga (far left), with Brazil president Lula, hold the World Cup trophy

At the 1994 World Cup held in the United States, Romário partnered Bebeto in attack to lead his country to a record fourth World Cup title.[10] Romário scored five goals in the tournament: one in each of the three first round matches, against Russia, Cameroon, and a trademark toe-poke finish against Sweden.[46][47] He scored one against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals; and the game-winning header against Sweden in the semifinals.[47]

Romário also assisted Bebeto in the only goal of the match against the United States in San Francisco for the round of 16 elimination match. Although he did not get on the scoresheet in the final in Los Angeles against Italy, a game played in searing heat which ended as a goalless draw, he converted Brazil's second penalty in the shoot-out, which ended in a 3–2 win for Brazil.[10] Romário won the World Cup Golden Ball as the most valuable player of the tournament, and was named in the World Cup All-Star Team.[10]

Described by Jere Longman of The New York Times as "short on humility, long on talent", Romário demanded a window seat on the team plane and refused to sit next to Bebeto.[48] He did however join Bebeto in one of the most iconic images of the tournament. After Bebeto scored against the Netherlands in Dallas, his goal celebration generated headlines around the world when he began rocking an imaginary baby – his wife had given birth to their third child just days before – with Romário (and Mazinho) then joining Bebeto in the rocking motion.[49]

In the subsequent years, Romário formed, along with fellow Brazilian forward Ronaldo, a feared attacking combo, which was colloquially referred to as the Ro-Ro duo. The first title which the strikers won while playing together in the front line, was the 1997 Copa América in Bolivia where they scored a total of eight goals. Later on in December 1997 they each scored a hat-trick in a 6–0 win against Australia in the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup final.[50] Romário finished the tournament as the top-goalscorer with seven goals while Ronaldo added four. In 1997 alone, the duo scored an impressive total of 34 international goals with 19 coming from Romário. The Ro-Ro attack was expected to headline the upcoming World Cup in France.

Romário (left) in training with Brazil

Romário was left out of the 1998 World Cup squad. Medical exams had revealed that he had a muscular injury, and he received intensive treatment leading up to the tournament, but he did not recover completely and was dismissed the day of the deadline for the World Cup squad submissions.[51] Just after the decision was announced, Romário held a press conference where he broke down in tears while saying that "this is very sad for me, a big disappointment. This is a very difficult moment in my life".[52] Brazil lost the World Cup final against hosts France.[53][54]

Prior to the 2002 World Cup, Romário, aged 36, was in considerably good form while playing for Vasco da Gama, but once again he was left out of the national squad by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari due to indiscipline. The final incident happened when he pulled out of the Brazil squad for the 2001 Copa América in Colombia. He told Scolari that he was having an eye operation, but played friendlies for club side Vasco da Gama in Mexico and went on holiday instead.[55] Romário gave a televised news conference in which he made his case and apologised, bursting into tears three times, though he said he could not remember doing or saying anything against the manager and the players.[56] The BBC's South American football correspondent, Tim Vickery, called Romário's news conference "bizarre" and reported that there were "increasingly credible rumours" that "senior players asked Scolari not to recall the veteran striker".[56] Scolari was unmoved and did not pick him, saying before his squad announcement that Romário's exclusion was "technical and tactical". After the announcement, he said that it was as a result of Romário's withdrawing from the Copa América: "People forget the details, but I do not. I almost got fired from the national team after [the Copa América]." (Brazil had been beaten in the quarter-finals by Honduras.)[55] Without Romário, Brazil went on to win the World Cup for the fifth time.[57][58]

Romário at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland in 2007 at the announcement of Brazil being named hosts of the 2014 FIFA World Cup

On 27 April 2005, Romário played his last game with the Brazil national team in a friendly and celebratory match in São Paulo.[59] He wore the captain's armband and scored the second goal in Brazil's 3–0 win against Guatemala.[59] Following the end of his playing career with Brazil, Romário successfully campaigned for Brazil to be awarded host status for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[60]

Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Romário goal.

List of international goals scored by Romário[100]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	28 May 1987	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	1–1	3–2	Friendly	[101]
2	1 June 1987	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	Israel	1–0	4–0	Friendly	[102]
3				3–0
4	28 June 1987	Estadio Olímpico Chateau Carreras, Córdoba, Argentina	Venezuela	5–0	5–0	1987 Copa América
5	7 July 1988	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, Australia	Australia	1–0	1–0	Australia Bicentenary Gold Cup	[103]
6	17 July 1988	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia		1–0	2–0	Australia Bicentenary Gold Cup	[104]
7	12 July 1989	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Argentina	2–0	2–0	1989 Copa América
8	14 July 1989	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Paraguay	3–0	3–0	1989 Copa América	[105]
9	16 July 1989	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Uruguay	1–0	1–0	1989 Copa América	[106]
10	30 July 1989	Estadio Brígido Iriarte, Caracas, Venezuela	Venezuela	2–0	4–0	1990 World Cup qualifier	[107]
11	19 September 1993	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Uruguay	1–0	2–0	1994 World Cup qualifier	[108]
12				2–0
13	5 June 1994	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada	Canada	1–0	1–1	Friendly	[109]
14	8 June 1994	Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, United States	Honduras	1–0	8–2	Friendly	[110]
15				2–0
16				5–1
17	12 June 1994	Bulldog Stadium, Fresno, United States	El Salvador	1–0	4–0	Friendly	[111]
18	20 June 1994	Stanford Stadium, Stanford, United States	Russia	1–0	2–0	1994 FIFA World Cup	[112]
19	24 June 1994	Stanford Stadium, Stanford, United States	Cameroon	1–0	3–0	1994 FIFA World Cup	[113]
20	28 June 1994	Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, United States	Sweden	1–1	1–1	1994 FIFA World Cup	[114]
21	9 July 1994	Cotton Bowl, Dallas, United States	Netherlands	1–0	3–2	1994 FIFA World Cup	[115]
22	13 July 1994	Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States	Sweden	1–0	1–0	1994 FIFA World Cup	[116]
23	2 April 1997	Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília, Brazil	Chile	1–0	4–0	Friendly	[117]
24				3–0
25	30 April 1997	Orange Bowl, Miami, United States	Mexico	2–0	4–0	Friendly	[118]
26				3–0
27				4–0
28	31 May 1997	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–1	2–4	Friendly	[119]
29	8 June 1997	Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France	Italy	3–3	3–3	Tournoi de France	[120]
30	10 June 1997	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	England	1–0	1–0	Tournoi de France	[121]
31	13 June 1997	Estadio Ramón Aguilera, Santa Cruz, Bolivia	Costa Rica	5–0	5–0	1997 Copa América	[122]
32	26 June 1997	Estadio Ramón Aguilera, Santa Cruz, Bolivia	Peru	3–0	7–0	1997 Copa América	[123]
33				5–0
34	7 December 1997	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa	South Africa	1–0	2–1	Friendly	[124]
35	12 December 1997	King Fahd II Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	2–0	3–0	1997 FIFA Confederations Cup	[125]
36				3–0
37	16 December 1997	King Fahd II Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Mexico	1–0	3–2	1997 FIFA Confederations Cup	[126]
38	19 December 1997	King Fahd II Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Czech Republic	1–0	2–0	1997 FIFA Confederations Cup	[127]
39	21 December 1997	King Fahd II Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Australia	3–0	6–0	1997 FIFA Confederations Cup	[128]
40				4–0
41				6–0
42	5 February 1998	Orange Bowl, Miami, United States	Guatemala	1–1	1–1	1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup	[129]
43	8 February 1998	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	El Salvador	2–0	4–0	1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup	[130]
44	15 February 1998		Jamaica	1–0	1–0	1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup	[131]
45	3 September 2000	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Bolivia	1–0	5–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	[132]
46				3–0
47				4–0
48	8 October 2000	Estadio Jose Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, Venezuela	Venezuela	3–0	6–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	[133]
49				4–0
50				5–0
51				6–0
52	7 March 2001	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico	Mexico	2–2	3–3	Friendly	[134]
53				3–3
54	25 April 2001	Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil	Peru	1–1	1–1	2002 World Cup qualifier	[135]
55	27 April 2005	Estádio do Pacaembu, São Paulo, Brazil	Guatemala	2–0	3–0	Friendly	[136]