Romário

Romário

File:Romário.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Romário de Souza Faria
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Centre Forward
Team information
Current team	Vasco da Gama (Player-Manager)

Romário de Souza Faria (born January 29, 1966), better known simply as Romário, is a legendary Brazilian football center forward who helped the Brazil national team win the 1994 FIFA World Cup and has been one of the most prolific strikers in the world since the 1990s, having had successful tenures with European clubs PSV Eindhoven and FC Barcelona, and in Brazil with Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama. His professional career has extended past age 40, an age by which most professional footballers have retired.

He was selected the FIFA World Player of the Year and won the World Cup Golden Ball in 1994 and named as one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration.

Club career

Overview

Born in Rio de Janeiro, of very humble beginnings, Romário started his career playing for Vasco da Gama (becoming one of the best footballers of the club in the last two decades) where he won two State Championships (1987/88). Contrary to popular belief his name is pronounced 'Ro-mer-io'. After being scouted by Piet de Visser, he played for PSV Eindhoven between 1988 and 1992, winning the Dutch League in 1989, 1991 and 1992. He moved to Spain's FC Barcelona for the 1993-1994 season, in which, along with players like Hristo Stoichkov, Jose 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 out 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 October 21, 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 18 league goals in 23 appearances for the team. In the biggest coup of the A-League's short history, Romario 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 November 25, 2006 against the Central Coast Mariners FC. His short stint in Adelaide United FC had been criticized by a few United fans who felt that his selection was purely a commercial exercise to the detriment of the team. However, Romario found form in his final game with the club on December 15th 2006 when he scored a decisive goal to finish on a high and win over all fans of the game. It was an outpouring of emotion by a crowd who longed for him to extend his stay in Adelaide. According to club officials he is held in the highest regard and there is hope that he will continue his ties with the club. In January 2007 he signed a new deal with Vasco da Gama

One thousandth goal

On May 20 2007, Romário scored his 1000th goal, a penalty kick against Sport Recife, playing for Vasco da Gama. He claims he is the second player in professional football history to achieve this, after Pelé in 1969 (some also claim that Arthur Friedenreich and Franz Binder each scored 1000 goals, see Football top goalscorers). The 1000th goal drew much attention from both Brazilian and international press. On the milestone day, however, many in the international press stated the 1000th goal claim is somewhat inaccurate, because Romário counted his goals in junior, friendly and non-official games.

FIFA congratulated Romário on his milestone goal but stated he is still officially on 929 goals.

Player/ Manager of Vasco da Gama

On the 24th October 2007 it was said that the Brazilian football legend Romario will take charge of his first match as the interim manager of Vasco da Gama against Club America of Mexico in the return leg of their Copa Sudamericana quarterfinal and he will also participate on the field as a player. Romario now 41 years of age, replaced Celso Roth as the manager of Vasco da Gama, but will also play the match against Club America at the same time. The Vasco da Gama president Eurico Miranda declared to Globo Online that Romario will be incharge of the team for the match, but it is likely to only be temporarily. Romario’s assignment is likely to be very difficult, because they lost the first leg of their Copa Sudamericana quarterfinal 2-0 against Club America at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City. Celso Roth got the sack after their last match went down the drain in a 1-0 loss to Atletico Mineiro. Vasco da Gama have been disappointing lately in the Brazilian League, they are five points above the drop zone. Romario may be solving their problem.

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

National team

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 55 goals in 70 international matches, being the second highest goalscorer in the history of the Brazilian team behind Pelé. He was a reserve in the 1990 World Cup, playing only 66 minutes in one match, against Scotland. Brazil was eliminated in second round by Argentina.

1994 World Cup

In 1992, during Romário's successful season at PSV Eindhoven, he was called to the national team for a friendly match against Germany at 12/16/1992 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.

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 clamored for his presence. Brazil had to beat Uruguay at the Maracana 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, one against Russia, one against Cameroon, one against 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.

The Ro-Ro attack

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.

1998 and 2002 World Cup absence

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. Brazil lost the World Cup final against hosts France.

Prior to the 2002 World Cup, Romário, aged 36, was in considerably good form for while playing for Fluminense, but once again he was left out of the national squad by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari due to indiscipline. Brazil went on to win the tournament, beating Germany in the final.

Last game for Brazil

On April 28 2005, Romário played his last game with the Brazilian national team in a friendly and celebrating match. He scored the second goal in Brazil's 3-0 win against Guatemala. The last official game supporting Brazil was in March 27 2001 in World Cup 2002 Qualifying when Brazil lost to Ecuador by 1-0

Recognition

• Johan Cruyff defined him as "genius of the goal area".
• Former Argentina international player Diego Maradona, in his autobiography Yo soy El Diego, described Romário as an "incredible finisher" adding that he had not seen a striker like him, and mentioning that Romário would be in his all-time "dream team" without any hesitation.
• Roberto Baggio said: "Romario 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."

Footvolley and Beach soccer

Since 90's Romário is Footvolley enthusiast, playing in various tournaments and with friends. In 2006 he won the VIP Footvolley.net Open in Miami Beach, USA. He also plays Beach soccer and represented Brazil at the 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Personal life

Romário has 6 sons born in 4 relationships with models. The older son Romario Jr, plays football and is begining a professional career in 2007. The newer son is Ivy who has down syndrome, in 2006 Romário engaged in campaign to dismiss prejudice and promote inclusion.

Personality

Romário is known for his polemic declarations and explosive humour. He is self declared against team concentration during championships, disliking coaches and for this got undisciplined fame. In his international club career he antipathized various coaches with his behavior, including Luis Felipe Scolari who rejected him for FIFA World Cup 2002. He was also known for missing training and becoming fined in FC Barcelona for each hour delayed.

Honours

Olympic medal record
Representing Brazil
Men's Football
	1988 Seoul	Team Competition

• Rio de Janeiro State Championship (1987, 1988, 1996, 1999) - four times champion, seven times leading scorer
• KNVB Cup (1989, 1990) - two times champion
• Dutch League (1989, 1991, 1992) - three times champion and three times leading scorer
• Seoul Olympic Games (1988) - silver medal
• Copa America (1989, 1997) - two times champion and leading scorer
• Spanish League (1994) - champion and leading scorer
• FIFA World Cup 1994 - champion and Most Valuable Player (Golden Ball) Award Winner
• Confederations Cup (1997) - champion and leading scorer
• Mercosur Cup (1999, 2000) - champion
• Brazilian Championship champion (2000) and leading scorer (2001, 2005)
• FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (2005) - 3rd place
• Football Olympic Tournament - silver medal (1988)
• FIFA World Player of the Year 1994

Template:S-awards

Personal titles

• South American championship (U 20): 1985
• Rio state league's top scorer: 1986, 1987, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
• Olympic Games's top scorer: 1988
• Dutch league's top scorer: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992
• Dutch Cup's top scorer: 1989, 1990
• Brazilian champions league's top scorer: 1990
• European Champions League's top scorer: 1990, 1993
• Spanish league's top scorer: 1994
• The best South American top player of the Spanish league (EFE trophy): 1994
• World Cup's top player: 1994
• Onze d'Or (top player of the year for the Onze Mondial French newspaper): 1994
• FIFA Top player: 1994
• Confederations Cup's top scorer: 1997
• Rio-São Paulo tournament's top scorer: 1997, 2000
• Brazilian Cup's top scorer: 1998, 1999
• Copa Mercosul's top scorer: 1999, 2000
• João Havelange's top scorer: 2000
• Top player of the Intercontinental Cup's final: 2000
• Brazilian Bola de Prata (Placar): 2000
• El Pais newspaper (top player): 2000
• Brazilian league's top scorer: 2001, 2005

Statistics

Team	Goals	Matches	Goal average
Vasco da Gama	326	410	0.79
PSV Eindhoven	163	165	0.98
FC Barcelona	53	84	0.63
Flamengo	204	240	0.85
Valencia CF	14	21	0.67
Fluminense	48	77	0.62
Al Sadd SC	0	3	0
Miami FC	22	29	0.76
Adelaide United	1	4	0.25
Brazil National Team	56	74	0.76
Brazil Olympic Team	15	11	1.36
Youth years	77	127	0.61
Others	21	13	1.61
Total	1002	1256	0.79

External links

• Player profile on sambafoot.com
• Romário - Video compilation of Romário's career thus far.
• YouTube Romario 1000 - Romario scores his 1000th goal on penalty