Nicknamed 'Shorty' because of his stocky 5'5" frame, Romario scored 55 international goals and was never far from controversy. Now, he's a politician
SHORT, stocky and incredibly powerful, Romario was, undoubtedly, one of the deadliest strikers in the history of the game.
Nicknamed ‘Baixinho’, or ‘Shorty’, Romario scored over 1,000 goals in a career spanning 24 years and a dozen clubs.
With 55 goals from 70 caps for Brazil, he won the Golden Ball award at the 1994 World Cup, helping them to the title and also won league titles with Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, Vasco da Gama and Flamengo.
And, in 1994, he was also voted FIFA World Player of the Year.
And, as you’ll see, his has been quite a life…
When he was a kid growing up in Rio de Janeiro’s Jacarezino favela, the young Romario didn’t just work on his football skills but he also practised his autograph over and over again in preparation for the stardom and adulation that was sure to follow.
“When I was born,” he said, “God pointed to me and said ‘You’re the man.'”
While nobody could deny his prowess in front of goal, Romario’s temperament was often his undoing.
At the 1985 World Youth Cup, he was even sent home in disgrace from the tournament in Moscow.
His crime? Urinating from a hotel balcony. As you do.
In 1994, while was with Barcelona, he lamped Sevilla’s Diego Simeone with a left-hook so brutal it got him a five-match ban.
Then, when he was back in Brazil playing for Fluminese, he attacked a fan who had thrown six live chickens at him during training.
Fair enough, if you ask us.
When Romario joined PSV Eindhoven in 1988, shortly after the Olympics, he hit the ground running and impressed then manager Guus Hiddink with his calmness both on and off the field.
“If he saw that I was a bit more nervous than usual ahead of a big game, he’d come to me and say: ‘Take it easy, coach, I’m going to score and we’re going to win'” he recalled.
“What’s incredible is that eight out of the ten times he told me that, he really did score and we really did win.”
When he left PSV to join Barcelona in 1993, he did so having scored a ridiculous 127 goals in 142 games.
Just look at what some of the legends of the game said about him. Johan Cruyff called him a ‘genius’. Roberto Baggio called him a “master of the penalty area.” And Diego Maradona regarded him as the greatest player he ever saw.
High praise indeed.
In 2015, Romario was pictured with his girlfriend Dixie Pratt, who was a friend of his daughter from his second marriage, Danielle.
She was 19 and wasn’t even alive when he won the World Cup in 1994.
When Romario was left out of the 1998 World Cup squad he was replaced by Edmundo, a decision that irked him massively.
That year, Romario opened his own bar in Rio, Café do Gol, and promptly hung a cartoon of his nemesis on the door to the men’s toilet.
Edmundo wasn’t happy.
“I called him to ask for an explanation,” he said. “He didn’t convince me. For this reason, I decided to finish my friendship with him.”
Romario and Edmundo were long-time partners in partying and in 1995 they even released their own record, Rap
Dos Bad Boys.
It’s as bad as it sounds.
Currently plying his trade in the UAE with Al-Jazira, 27-year-old Romarinho did play for Corinthians, scoring 31 goals in 141 games but he’s not really scaled the heights of his old man.
But, to be fair, they’re big boots to fill.
Earlier this year, Romario was asked what advice he would give to young Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus in the World Cup in Russia.
"The first thing I advise him to do is have lots of good sex," he said.
Not sure that’s in the Gareth Southgate coaching manual.
It’s not the only advice he’s given out to the young and impressionable.“Say no to drugs kids,” he says. “And do not support Fluminense.”
Though he rarely divulged the secrets of his own scoring success he once revealed an unusual technique for creating space in the penalty area.
"I stand there," he said, "pretending I am dead."
Now 52, Romario is a politician in Brazil, holding the office of President of the Podemos party in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Earlier this year, he also announced he would run for Governor of Rio in the Brazilian General Election in October.
Get a few quid on him to win that too.
