Icons: Romário
It's time to explore another icon of the football world. This time it's Romário.
Early career
Romário was spotted playing for Olaria, a small club from the Rio de Janeiro suburb. He was first taken to the junior team of Vasco da Gama, where once promoted to the senior team, he won two state league titles in 1987 and 1988. This earned his first call-ups to the national team. He quickly came to international attention, becoming the top scorer at the 1988 Olympic football tournament.
Move to Europe
Like all exciting Brazilian attacking players, he was a man who wanted to prove himself in Europe. Shortly after the 1988 Olympics, he moved to PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Eredivisie in 1989, 1991 and 1992. He started to develop a cult following across the continent, and it wasn't long before some of the world's biggest clubs were interested in signing him.
After a lot of deliberation, his next destination was to be Barcelona. The video below explores some of the best moments at PSV.
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The Dream Team
He moved to the Catalan giants and very quickly, he became part of Johan Cruyff's iconic Dream Team. 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 league goalscorer with 30 goals. For many fans of this Brazilian forward, this was Romário performing at his absolute best.
Barca also reached the 1994 UEFA Champions League final, where despite being heavy favourites to win, they eventually lost 0–4 to Milan. This is still spoken about as being one of the biggest shocks in European Cup/Champions League history. Milan was still a fine team, but very few expected them to get near the Dream Team.
Eventual departure from the Nou Camp
Romário was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1994, after being the runner-up in 1993. Although he was praised for his performances, Romário was prone to controversial moments and was often suspended.
Despite this, there were some special moments still to come. In two UEFA Champions League games against Manchester United, he nutmegged Peter Schmeichel to score at Old Trafford and again in the 4–0 win at the Camp Nou in front of 114,000 fans.
Reflecting on the game at the Camp Nou, then Manchester United captain Steve Bruce often spoke about the being one of the most challenging he ever faced. This was a view supported by Ken, a Manchester United fan. Ken told us: "He was the best player that we faced during that period."
Romário left Barcelona unexpectedly in January 1995 after a rift with coach Cruyff. His time at Barcelona brought a lot of success and probably saw the forward at his peak (taken into consideration the quality of opposition.)
Flamengo and Valencia
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. During the first spell at Flamengo, he scored a remarkable 68 goals in just 79 matches.
He began the 1996–97 season with Valencia, but after having heated arguments with then head coach Luis Aragonés, he was soon loaned back to Flamengo.
Romário returned to Valencia at the beginning of the 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. Between 1997 and 1999, he scored over 100 goals and carried on his iconic status amongst Brazilian fans.
ROMARIO & Ariel ORTEGA - Valencia C.F 1997-98 pic.twitter.com/1mbs7wqR81
— Old School Panini (@OldSchoolPanini) March 27, 2019
Return to Vasco
He rejoined Vasco da Gama in 2000 and linked up again with fellow international striker Edmundo. He helped lead his first professional fame 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. You can watch this match against Manchester United by clicking here: Manchester United v Vasco da Gama | FIFA Club World Championship 2000 | Match Highlights (youtube.com)
A career that seemed to go on forever
He would return to have a series of spells at Vasco da Gama throughout the last few years of his career but would also have spells at Al Sadd (Qatar), Adelaide United (Australia), Miami FC (USA) and Club America (Mexico). A journeyman end to a career, but that almost seemed appropriate.
International career
With 55 goals in 70 appearances, he is the fourth-highest goalscorer for the Brazil national team, behind Pelé, Neymar and Ronaldo. The highlight of that wonderful international career came in the 1994 World Cup.
In addition to that World Cup success in 1994, he was also a part of Brazil's Copa América success in 1989 and 1997. They also won the FIFA Conferdations Cup in 1997.
In April 2005, Romário played his last game with the Brazil national team in a friendly and celebratory match in São Paulo. He was captain for this occasion and scored the second goal in Brazil's 3–0 win against Guatemala. Following the end of his international career, he successfully campaigned for Brazil to be awarded host status for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This was evidence of his status within the game as a whole.
