Romário

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Romário
Romário.jpg
Romário with the FIFA World Cup Trophy in 2007
Personal information
Full name Romário De Souza Faria
Date of birth (1966-01-29) 29 January 1966 (age 47)
Place of birth Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
1979–1980 Olaria
1981–1985 Vasco da Gama
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1985–1988 Vasco da Gama 47 (17)
1988–1993 PSV 107 (96)
1993–1995 Barcelona 46 (34)
1995–1999 Flamengo 62 (37)
1996–1998 → Valencia (loan) 11 (5)
2000–2002 Vasco da Gama 46 (41)
2002–2004 Fluminense 60 (34)
2003 → Al-Sadd (loan) 3 (0)
2005–2006 Vasco da Gama 31 (22)
2006 Miami FC 25 (19)
2006–2007 Adelaide United 4 (1)
2007 Vasco da Gama 6 (3)
2009 America-RJ 0 (0)
Total 448 (309)
National team
1987–2005 Brazil 70 (55[1])
Teams managed
2007–2008 Vasco da Gama
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Romário de Souza Faria (born 29 January 1966 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), better known simply as Romário (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁoˈmaɾiu]), is a former footballer who played striker, manager and current politician. He helped the Brazil national team win the 1994 FIFA World Cup and was one of the most prolific strikers in the world.

He was selected the FIFA World Player of the Year and won the World Cup Golden Ball in 1994, chosen as forward on FIFA Dream Team and named as one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration. Playing for PSV Eindhoven in 1992–93 UEFA Champions League, and despite the team being eliminated in final rounds, he managed to be the top scorer of the tournament.

He is also known as one of very few strikers to surpass the mark of 1,000 goals.[2]

Contents

Club career [edit]

Overview [edit]

From very 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 leagues (1987/88) 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.

Shortly after he moved to PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Dutch League in 1989, 1991 and 1992. Romário moved to Spain's FC Barcelona for the 1993–1994 season, in which, along with players like Hristo Stoichkov, José Mari Bakero, Josep Guardiola, Michael Laudrup and Ronald Koeman, he helped the club win the League, while becoming the season's top goalscorer with 30 goals in 33 matches.

Romário was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1994, after being the runner-up in 1993. In 1995 he returned to Brazil to play for Flamengo. He spent the next year in Valencia. In 1998, he missed the World Cup and then returned to Flamengo until 1999.

He played for Vasco da Gama again in 2000, winning the Mercosur Cup, the Brazilian League, the South American and Brazilian Footballer of the Year award. From 2002 until 2004 he played for Fluminense. On 21 October 2004 he was fired from the club after a conflict with the coach. He then went back to play for the team he started at, Vasco da Gama. In 2005, at nearly 40 years of age, Romário scored 22 goals in the Brazilian Championship, making him the league's top goalscorer.

In the beginning of 2006, he joined Miami FC along with former 1994 FIFA World Cup teammate Zinho. He helped Miami FC reach their first ever USL First Division Playoffs, scoring 19 league goals in 25 appearances for the team. In the biggest 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 FC. He played his first match for Adelaide United FC on 25 November 2006 against the Central Coast Mariners FC. After his final game during his short stint on 15 December 2006 he finally scored a goal for Adelaide to end what many considered to be a disappointing spell with the club. In January 2007 he signed a new deal with Vasco da Gama.[3]

Thousandth goal [edit]

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 and Puskás[4] 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.[5][6][7][8] There is some controversy over the validity of the 1000 goals as it claim is somewhat inaccurate, because Romário's research team counted his goals in junior, friendly and non-official games.[9][10]

FIFA congratulated Romário on his milestone goal[11] but stated he is still officially on 929 goals, as 77 came in youth football, with others being scored in friendly matches.[12]

In 2008 Romário released a DVD with the best goals of his career totaling 900 goals in the disc.[13]

Player/Manager of Vasco da Gama [edit]

On 24 October 2007, it was announced that Romário would take charge of his first match as the interim manager of Vasco da Gama 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. The 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.[14]

Retirement and comeback [edit]

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 Confederations Cup and helping with the 2014 World Cup. However, on 27 March, Romário denied that he had retired. His contract with Vasco had finished so he is now waiting for proposals from other clubs. It is likely that he will return to play a farewell match, perhaps with Vasco, Flamengo or America (RJ) (America is a small club from Rio, which Romário's father, Edevair Faria, supported).

Romário announced on 15 April 2008 at his DVD launch that he would retire from the game of football.[15][16] 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," he said. "My time is up. Everything has been a lot of fun."[17]

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 father's wishes.[18]

On 25 November 2009, Romário made his comeback. Fulfilling his father's wishes, he came on during the 68th minute of the match between America and Artsul, replacing Adriano. Although he didn't score, America was able to come forth with a 2–0 win, which led the club to the title of the Second Division of the Carioca Championship.

National team [edit]

As a member of the Brazilian national team, Romário won the silver Olympic medal in Seoul in 1988, scoring seven goals. He was part of the Brazilian squad in the World Cups of 1990 and 1994. He scored 71 goals in 85 international matches (includes Olympic matches), being the second highest goalscorer in the history of the Brazilian team; only bettered by Pelé. He was a reserve in the 1990 World Cup, playing only 66 minutes in one match, against Scotland. Brazil were eliminated in round of 16 by their rivals Argentina.

1994 World Cup [edit]

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.[19]

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. Journalists and fans called for his return to the team. Brazil had to beat Uruguay at the Maracanã Stadium to finish first of their group. Before the match against Uruguay, Parreira gave up and called Romário. Brazil won 2–0, with Romário scoring both goals, and qualified to the World Cup.

At the World Cup finals, he partnered with Bebeto in the attack to lead his country to a record fourth World Cup title. He scored five goals in the tournament: one in each of the three first round matches, against Russia, Cameroon, and Sweden; one against the Netherlands in quarterfinals; and the game-winning header against Sweden in the semifinals. He also assisted Bebeto in the only goal of the match against the United States in the round of 16. He was voted the most outstanding player of the tournament.

Although he didn't get on the scoresheet in the final, 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.

The Ro-Ro attack [edit]

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. They each scored a hat-trick in a 6–0 win against Australia in the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup final.[20]

1998 and 2002 World Cup absence [edit]

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.[21] Brazil lost the World Cup final against hosts France.

Prior to the 2002 World Cup, Romário, aged 36, was in considerably good form while playing for Fluminense, 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 decided not to travel with the Brazilian national team to dispute the 2001 Copa America in Colombia.

Last game for Brazil [edit]

On 27 April 2005, Romário played his last game with the Brazilian national team in a friendly and celebratory match. He wore the captain's armband and scored the second goal in Brazil's 3–0 win against Guatemala and finished off with a yellow card.

Recognition [edit]

  • Johan Cruyff defined him as "genius of the goal area".[22]
  • Roberto Baggio said: "Romário is one of the greatest players of all time. He has good technique and personality. He is a master of art in the penalty area."[23]

Footvolley and Beach soccer [edit]

Since the 1990s Romário has been a Footvolley enthusiast, playing with friends in various tournaments. In 2006 he won the VIP Footvolley.net Open in Miami Beach, USA; and was runner-up in the 2011 Footvolley World Championship in Rio de Janeiro. He also plays Beach soccer and represented Brazil (won the Bronze medal) at the 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Political career [edit]

Romário in the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil.

In the 2010 general election, Romário was elected to the Chamber of Deputies on the Brazilian Socialist Party ticket. He was the sixth most voted candidate for deputy in Rio de Janeiro.[24][25]

In the present days, Romário is pushing his political agenda against 2014 FIFA World Cup denouncing the event is immersed in corruption and money laundering.[26][27] He also expressed disagreement with Ricardo Teixeira, Jerome Valcke and Sepp Blatter.[28] He is one of various others claiming that 2018 FIFA World Cup was "stolen" from England and sold to Russia, in a part of FIFA 2011 scandal.[29]

Career statistics [edit]

Club [edit]

[30]

Season Club League League Regional
League		 Cup Continental Other[nb 1] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1985 Vasco da Gama A 7 0 21 11 — 0 0 — 28 11
1986 23 9 25 20 — — — 48 29
1987 17 8 24 16 — — — 41 24
1988 0 0 24 16 — — — 24 16
1988–89 PSV Eindhoven Eredivisie 24 19 — 3 4 4 2 3 1 34 26
1989–90 20 23 — 2 2 4 6 — 26 31
1990–91 25 24 — 2 6 2 0 — 29 30
1991–92 13 9 — 1 0 2 0 1 0 17 9
1992–93 25 21 — 1 3 9 7 1 0 36 31
1993–94 Barcelona La Liga 33 30 — 2 0 10 2 2 0 47 32
1994–95 13 4 — 0 0 5 3 — 18 7
1995 Flamengo A 16 8 21 26 5 1 4 2 — 46 37
1996 3 0 19 26 5 1 0 0 6 4 33 31
1996–97 Valencia La Liga 5 4 — 0 0 0 0 — 5 4
1997 Flamengo A 4 3 18 18 8 7 0 0 6 7 36 35
1997–98 Valencia La Liga 6 1 — 1 1 — — 7 2
1998 Flamengo A 20 14 11 10 4 6 3 4 2 1 40 35
1999 19 12 15 16 7 7 7 8 6 3 54 46
2000 Vasco da Gama 27 19 17 19 2 1 11 11 14 15 71 65
2001 19 22 11 13 0 0 9 5 — 39 40
2002 0 0 5 8 7 5 — 13 13 25 26
Fluminense 26 16 0 0 0 0 — — 26 16
2003 0 0 4 5 0 0 0 0 — 4 5
2002–03 Al-Sadd CQ 3 0 — 0 0 — — 3 0
2003 Fluminense A 21 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 21 13
2004 13 5 9 6 2 2 — — 24 13
2005 Vasco da Gama 31 22 10 7 2 1 — — 43 30
2006 0 0 10 6 1 3 0 0 — 11 9
2006 Miami FC USL 1st 25 19 — 1 0 — — 26 19
2006–2007 Adelaide A-League 4 1 — — 0 0 — 4 1
2007 Vasco da Gama A 6 3 9 10 3 2 1 0 — 19 15
2009 América-RJ 0 0 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
Total 448 309 254 233 59 52 71 50 54 44 886 688

International goals [edit]

Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first.

Honours [edit]

Vasco da Gama
PSV Eindhoven
Barcelona
Flamengo
Al-Sadd
América-RJ
 Brazil

Individual [edit]

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ Includes UEFA Super Cup (1988), Intercontinental Cup (1988), Dutch Super Cup (1991, 1992), Supercopa de España (1993), FIFA Club World Cup (2000).

References [edit]

  1. ^ Appearances and goals for Brazil National Team. RSSSF. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Romário completes a famous 1,000". FIFA.com. 21 May 2007.
  3. ^ "Romario still going strong at 40". FIFAworldcup.com. 1 February 2006.
  4. ^ "Romario notches 1,000 goal". Sportsnet.ca. 20 May 2007.
  5. ^ "Romario nets 1000th goal of career". CNN.com. 20 May 2007.
  6. ^ "Romário converts penalty for 1,000th goal". Sports Illustrated. 20 May 2007.
  7. ^ "Imprensa internacional destaca milésimo gol de Romário" (in Portuguese). Folha Online. 20 May 2007.
  8. ^ "Romário 1.000 goals" (in Portuguese). Globo.com. 20 May 2007.
  9. ^ "Controversy on the road to 1,000". BBC News. 21 May 2007.
  10. ^ "Romario writes his own history". Daily Mail. 21 May 2007.
  11. ^ "Romário completes a famous 1,000". FIFA.com. 21 May 2007.
  12. ^ "Romario bags 1,000th career goal". Miami Herald. 21 May 2007.
  13. ^ "Romário lança DVD e diz que Ronaldo está cheinho, mas vai esvaziar" (in Portuguese). Globo.com. 5 August 2008.
  14. ^ "Romario fails doping test, blames hair medicine". ESPN Soccernet. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2007. 
  15. ^ "Brazil legend Romario calls time on career". FourFourTwo. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008. 
  16. ^ "Brazil legend Romario ends career". BBC. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008. 
  17. ^ "Brazil's Romario retires". Al Jazeera. 15 April 2008.
  18. ^ "Romario announces comeback". ESPN Soccernet. 13 August 2009.
  19. ^ "Brazil in the 1994 World Cup". Virtual-Brazil.com. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  20. ^ Match Report. FIFA.com. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  21. ^ "Brazil in the 1998 World Cup". Virtual-Brazil.com. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  22. ^ "Romario falls short in quest of 1,000th goal". HULIQ.com. 5 April 2007.
  23. ^ Roberto Baggio's world. Pro-Paul.net. 2001.
  24. ^ "Romário" (in Portuguese). Romario4011.com.
  25. ^ "Sexto candidato a deputado federal mais votado do Rio, Romário rejeita paralelo com Tiririca" (in Portuguese). Globo.com. 4 October 2010.
  26. ^ "Romário chama Mundial de 2014 de ‘Copa da mentira’ e alfineta Ronaldo" (in Portuguese). Globo.com. 11 April 2012.
  27. ^ "Romário diz que Copa de 2014 será o 'maior roubo da história'" (in Portuguese). Globo.com. 18 March 2012.
  28. ^ "Romário detona Ricardo Teixeira e Jerome Valcke" (in Portuguese). YouTube.com. 8 November 2011.
  29. ^ "Ricardo Teixeira é convocado por Romário para esclarecer denúncia de corrupção" (in Portuguese). Mtv.uol.com. 9 November 2011.
  30. ^ "Romário; european career stats". Football Database.eu. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 

External links [edit]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Romario
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Romário
CR Vasco da Gama – managers
Authority control

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