Romário

Early years

From humble origins, Romário was spotted in childhood when playing for Olaria, a small club from the Rio de Janeiro suburb. He was taken to the junior team of Vasco da Gama where he won two state league titles (1987, 1988) and earned his first call-ups to the national team. Romário came to international attention when he became the top scorer at the 1988 Olympic football tournament.

1988–1993: PSV Eindhoven

Shortly after the Olympics he moved to PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Eredivisie in 1989, 1991 and 1992. Renowned for his ability to operate in the confined space of the penalty box, Romário scored 165 goals in 167 games in five seasons at PSV. Driven by an unswerving belief in his abilities, Romário's laid-back manner and overwhelming self-confidence would be displayed throughout his career, with Guus Hiddink, his coach at PSV, stating, "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'. What's incredible is that eight out of the ten times he told me that, he really did score and we really did win."

1993–1995: Barcelona

Romário moved to Barcelona for the 1993–94 season and became part of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team", in which, 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…

As a member of the Brazil national team, Romário won the silver Olympic medal in Seoul in 1988, finishing as the top-goalscorer with seven goals in six matches. He attained the status of national hero at the 1989 Copa América as he scored the only goal in the final against Uruguay to end Brazil's long trophy drought in front of their own fans at the Maracanã. He was part of the Brazilian squad in the World Cups of 1990 and 1994. He scored 71 goals in 85 international matches (including senior and Olympic teams), being the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Brazilian team.

1990 World Cup

Romário was one of the most talked about stars leading up to the 1990 World Cup in Italy, but picked up a serious injury (broken fibula) three months before the big kick-off. Despite doing everything to recover in time and being rewarded with a spot in the squad, his lack of fitness meant he was restricted to playing only 66 minutes in one match, against Scotland. Brazil were eliminated in round of 16 by their rival side Argentina.

1994 World Cup

In 1992, during Romário's successful season at PSV Eindhoven, he was called up to the national team for a friendly match against Germany on 16 December 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…

Romário is regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific strikers of all time. His coach at Barcelona, Johan Cruyff, defined him as a "genius of the goal area", as well as the greatest player he ever coached. His Brazilian compatriot Ronaldo, who played with him in his early career, reflected, "Romário was the most decisive player who I played with, he was a great goal scorer, finisher, skillful, opportunist. I think I learnt all of that from him". Italian playmaker Roberto Baggio said "Romário is one of the greatest players of all time. He is a master of art in the penalty area," a view echoed by Paolo Maldini with, "Romário was incredible in the penalty area." Diego Maradona on who was the best player he ever saw play, "It is between Romário and Van Basten". Romário wore the number 11 shirt for most of his club and international career, which inspired Neymar's number at Santos (he also went on to wear number 11 for Barcelona). Along with two other FIFA World Player of the Year recipients, Brazilian compatriot Ronaldo and Liberian star George Weah, Romário was seen as a new breed of striker in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards goal, with former France striker Thierry Henry stating; "Ronaldo, together with Romário and George Weah, reinvented the centre-forward position. They were the first to drop from the penalty box to pick up the ball in midfield, switch to the flanks, attract and disorientate the central…

In the 2010 general election, Romário was elected to the Chamber of Deputies on the Brazilian Socialist Party ticket. He was the sixth most voted candidate for deputy in Rio de Janeiro. He pushed his political agenda against the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, denouncing the event as immersed in corruption and money laundering. He also expressed disagreement with Ricardo Teixeira, Jérôme Valcke, and Sepp Blatter. He is one of various figures claiming that the holding of the 2018 FIFA World Cup was "stolen" from England and sold to Russia as part of the 2011 scandal involving FIFA. On 19 February 2014, Romário announced that he would run for the Brazilian senate in the 2014 general election, and the decision was officially confirmed in June. On 5 October, Romário was elected to the Senate with the most votes received ever by a candidate representing the state of Rio de Janeiro. In June 2017, Romário left the PSB and joined Podemos, becoming president of the party in the State of Rio de Janeiro. In March 2018, Romário announced his run for governor of Rio de Janeiro in the Brazilian general election as a candidate for the centrist Podemos party. Romário finished in fourth place, with 8.6% of valid votes. In April 2021, Romário switched parties again, to the Liberal Party. In October, he publicly endorsed the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, and criticised the previous administration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.