- Born:
- January 29, 1966, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (age 60)
- Awards And Honors:
- FIFA World Cup (1994)
Romário
What is Romário known for?
How many goals did Romário score?
What was Romário’s role for Brazil at the 1994 FIFA World Cup?
Romário (born January 29, 1966, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a retired Brazilian football (soccer) player and politician who is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. A clinical striker renowned for his finishing and movement, Romário played for multiple clubs, including Vasco da Gama, PSV Eindhoven, and FC Barcelona. He won the Golden Ball as the most outstanding performer in the 1994 World Cup after helping Brazil win the tournament. That year, he was also named FIFA World Player of the Year. He scored more than 700 goals in official matches, making him one of the most prolific goal scorers in football history.
Early life
Romário de Souza Faria was born in the Jacarezinho favela near Rio de Janeiro but moved with his family to the nearby suburb of Vila da Penha, where he was raised. He began playing football in neighborhood games, especially with Estrelinha, a local team founded by his father, Edevair de Souza Faria, from an early age and displayed exceptional football talent. As a child he suffered from asthma and often found playing football a relief. His father recognized his talent and took him to the Olaria Atlético Clube, a football club based in Rio.
Club career
Romário signed with Olaria’s youth squad at age 13 and developed rapidly. In a friendly match against Vasco da Gama, he scored four times, a feat that persuaded Vasco to sign him in 1985. Romário won two state championships with the team and scored 73 goals in 123 matches over four seasons.
Romário then transferred to the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, and the team captured both Eredivisie and KNVB Cup championships in his first season (1988–89). His control, mobility, and vision—combined with his strength, fine body balance, and a surprisingly long stride—made him a potent striker, despite being just 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 meters) tall, which was the source of his nickname, “Baixinho” (Portuguese for “The Little One,” or “Shorty”). But Romário was uninterested in training, which he considered a waste of energy, and was fined for throwing temper tantrums, failing to report on time, complaining of the cold, and flying to Rio de Janeiro at every conceivable excuse. Though immensely popular with spectators, he was disliked by his fellow PSV players and made no attempt to learn Dutch. His goal-scoring prowess, however, was undeniable: In five seasons he scored 125 goals for PSV.
In 1993 he left PSV for FC Barcelona, and he helped the team to the 1993–94 La Liga championship and finished as the league’s top scorer with 30 goals in 33 matches. He played under Johan Cruyff as part of the club’s celebrated “dream team,” which included players such as Josep “Pep” Guardiola, Ronald Koeman, and Hristo Stoichkov. One of Romário’s iconic moments with FC Barcelona came in 1994, when he scored a hat trick in a 5–0 win over Real Madrid. He also helped Barcelona reach the 1994 UEFA Champions League final, in which the club lost 4–0 to AC Milan.
Soon after his World Cup triumph, Romário entered into an itinerant phase of his career, playing for clubs in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America between 1995 and 2008, which included three returns to Vasco da Gama. While he continued to have some success in his domestic club career, he was left off both the 1998 and 2002 Brazilian World Cup rosters.
One notable moment in his later years came in 2007 when, while playing for Vasco, he scored what he deemed was his 1,000th career goal, a tally that included goals scored in youth and friendly matches, which are not officially counted by FIFA. Romário retired from football in 2008, but in 2009 he came out of retirement to play one game with América, a second-division Brazilian club that he was managing at the time and that was his late father’s favorite team.
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International career
Selected for the Brazilian team that competed at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Romário was the leading goal scorer in the competition, finishing with seven goals as Brazil won the silver medal. In 1989 Brazil won the Copa América, with Romário scoring the only goal in the final against Uruguay.
In March 1990, having already been banned from three international competitions for being sent off against Chile for fighting, Romário broke his leg. He was far from being match fit for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, and he served only as a reserve during the tournament.
In May 1994, weeks before the FIFA World Cup was set to begin, Romário’s father, Edevair de Souza Faria, was kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro. Romário publicly declared that he would not play in the tournament unless his father was released. Days later, his father was found unharmed, and Romário played in the tournament, guiding Brazil to its fourth World Cup title.
He scored five goals at the 1994 World Cup in the United States and led Brazil to a fourth World Cup title, breaking a 24-year title drought. He scored goals against Russia, Sweden, and Cameroon in the group stage; the winning goal against the Netherlands in the quarterfinal; and a goal against Sweden in the semifinal. Brazil defeated Italy on penalties after a scoreless draw in the final. He was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player and was named the 1994 FIFA World Player of the Year. Romário failed to make Brazil’s squad for the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. He played his final match for Brazil in a 2005 friendly against Guatemala. Romário scored 55 goals in 71 appearances for Brazil.
Political career
After his football career ended, Romário turned to politics. He became an outspoken advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, inspired by his daughter Ivy, who was born with Down syndrome. In 2010 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil’s lower house of parliament) as a member of the Socialist Party and took office the following year. He then successfully ran for the Federal Senate in 2014, assuming his seat in 2015. Two years later, Romário switched parties, joining the centrist Podemos (“We Can”). In 2018 he announced his candidacy for governor of Rio de Janeiro state, but he lost in the first round of the election. He was reelected to the Federal Senate in 2022 as a Liberal Party candidate. In 2024 he became president of América Football Club in Rio de Janeiro while continuing to serve as a senator.