Romário
Centre-Forward · PSV Eindhoven · Brazil
About Romário
Romário de Souza Faria claims to have scored over 1,000 career goals — a figure disputed by statisticians but indicative of an extraordinary striker who excelled at every level for over two decades. The 1994 World Cup Golden Ball winner, 1994 FIFA World Player of the Year, and one of the most instinctive finishers in history. His partnership with Bebeto at the 1994 World Cup is one of football's great striking duos.
Romário's story
Rio's Poacher
Romário grew up in the Vila da Penha neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro (BRA). He first came to international attention at the 1988 Seoul (KOR) Olympics, where he scored 7 goals. PSV signed him immediately. His time at PSV was explosive — 165 goals in less than 5 full seasons — before he moved to Barcelona (ESP) for one brilliant season.
The 1994 World Cup
Romário's 1994 World Cup is one of the great individual tournament performances. He scored 5 goals, set up Bebeto repeatedly in their devastating partnership, and won the Golden Ball as the tournament's outstanding player. He lifted the World Cup trophy in Pasadena while dedicating it to his father Manoel, who had suffered a heart attack weeks earlier.
Senator and Beyond
Romário was elected to the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies in 2010 and to the Brazilian Senate in 2014. He has been a passionate advocate for the rights of people with disabilities — his daughter has Down syndrome — and a fierce critic of FIFA, the Brazilian Football Federation, and corruption in Brazilian football. He remains one of Brazil's most recognisable public figures.
Did you know?
- ⚽ He claims over 1,000 career goals — a figure disputed but indicative of a striker who scored at virtually every level he played, from Rio de Janeiro's favelas to the World Cup final.
- 🏆 He won the 1994 World Cup Golden Ball as the tournament's outstanding player — one of the few occasions the award went to the right player by universal consensus.
- 👨👩👧👦 Married and divorced multiple times; has five children. His daughter Ivy was born with Down's syndrome in 2005, prompting him to become a prominent advocate for disability rights in Brazil.
- 📊 He scored 55 international goals in 70 appearances — one of the highest ratios in Brazilian international history.
- 🏛️ He was elected to the Brazilian Senate in 2014, where he campaigns for disability rights, anti-corruption measures, and sports infrastructure investment.
- 🌟 Johan Cruyff, who managed him at Barcelona, said: "In all my years in football, Romário is the only striker I would call a complete natural. He was born knowing where the ball was going.
- 💤 He was famously lazy in training — coaches across his career reported that he barely ran at practice. Then the game would start and he would be extraordinary. Cruyff said: "Some players need to train hard. Romário just needed to play."
- 💔 His relationship with his daughter Ivy, who has Down syndrome, transformed his public persona. He became one of Brazil's most vocal advocates for disability rights.
- 😤 He was publicly critical of Brazil's FIFA World Cup preparations in 2014, calling it "a swindle" and accusing the government and FIFA of enriching themselves at the expense of ordinary Brazilians.
Honours
- FIFA World Cup: Brazil (1994) — Golden Ball winner
- FIFA World Player of the Year: 1994
- La Liga: Barcelona (1994)
- Eredivisie x4: PSV Eindhoven (1989,1991,1992)
- Copa América: Brazil (1989)
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