Romario de Souza

Romario de Souza Biography

Born on 29th of January, 1966 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Romário de Souza is a former Brazilian footballer, who is regarded as one of the greatest ever players to have played for the the South American nation.

Having won many accolades during his playing career, he was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players in 2004. He is the second highest goalscorer for Brazil after Pele.

Early Career and Achievement

Romario made his professional debut an early age of 13 when Olaria football club was highly impressed by this highly enthusiastic talent of Brazil and offered him a contract.

In 1981, Romario joined Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama during his youth years. After winning two state leagues with the junior team, he was selected to be a part of the senior team in 1985.

As a part of the national U-20 team, Romario won the U-20 South American Championship.

Debut

Romario impressed everyone with his stint at Vasco da Gama and got a call to play in the national team in 1987.

He was included in the squad heading to the 1988 Summer Olympics. Romario ended the Olympics as the highest goal scorer, with seven goals from six games.

Rise to Glory

In the year 1989, Romario emerged as the national hero after he scored the only goal in the finals of the Copa America against Uruguay at their home to win the trophy for his team after a long period of time.

During the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Romario won the World Cup Golden Ball, helping Brazil to win the Cup. He ended as the most valuable player of the tournament. He was also named the FIFA World Player of the Year in the same year.

Romario, along with Ronaldo took responsibility of the attack in the Brazil team and went on to score many goals. The duo helped Brazil win the 1997 Copa America, scoring a total of eight goals. In the FIFA Confederations Cup the same year, both scored three goals each in the final against Australia.

Playing for the national team, Romario has 70 caps to his name and 55 goals. He is the second highest goal scorer for Brazil after Pele (77 goals).

Club Career

Romario started his club career with Vasco da Gama in 1985, before he moved to PSV Eindhoven in 1987. Winning the national title there thrice, he scored 115 goals from 132 matches.

In 1993, he moved to FC Barcelona and took the club by storm. He was the highest goal scorer in his debut season with 30 goals from 33 matches and helped the Spanish club win the La Liga title. He also scored a hat-trick against Real Madrid, making him the crowd favorite.

He left the club in 1995 after a rift with the coach Johan Cruyff.

After unsuccessful stints at Flamengo and Valencia, he returned to Vasco in 2000 and stayed with the club for two years. He then moved to Fluminense Football Club in 2002 and had small stints at Miami FC, Adelaide United, Vasco and America (RJ) to retire in 2009.

Romerio scored his 1000th goal while playing for Vasco in May 2007.

He also managed Vasco da Gama for a year in 2007-08.