How late night romp, s*x obsession derailed Romario’s career
Romario guided Barcelona to the La Liga title and a Champions League final but was booted out of the club months later – Daily Star Sport reflects on his sudden decline in Spain
There is something about growing up in Rio de Janeiro in that the party lifestyle simply becomes part of the make-up of Brazilian footballers. Arguably, no footballer embodies that stereotype better than Barcelona’s legendary striker Romario.
Romario might just be the only other player in football history who can rival Pele’s claim to having scored over 1,000 goals in his illustrious 23-year career.
His career trajectory saw him tour around Europe with PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona before heading back to Brazil, treading the path that would later be replicated by Ronaldo Nazario.
But his life away from the pitch soon caught up with the striker, resulting in rows between the star, his coaches and team-mates during his European adventure.
As Romario celebrates his 56th birthday today on January 29, Daily Star Sport reflects on his career fuelled by goals and derailed by alcohol, s*x and constant partying…
If there were some concerns over his professionalism, no one could question Romario’s appetite for finding the back of the net during his playing days.
His exploits for Vasco da Gama as a teenager caught the eye of clubs from Europe and he was snapped up by Dutch giants PSV in 1988.
In his five seasons in the Netherlands, there was simply no striker on the same level as him, as Romario bagged an incredible 128 goals in 149 appearances under Guus Hiddink.
Despite some fine performances, including a hat-trick in the Clasico against Real Madrid and in the 4-0 drubbing of Manchester United in the Champions League, he lasted just 18 months in Spain after a row with Cruyff.
After contributing to Brazil’s World Cup triumph in 1994, Romario saw his stock fall dramatically and he headed back to Brazil with Flamengo before joining Fluminense and boyhood club Vasco for two more spells.
His form would have secured him a place in the Selecao’s World Cup squad four years later at France ’98, but a knee injury robbed him of the chance to feature. Still, his impressive haul of 55 goals in 79 caps keeps him fourth on the all-time list for his country.
Even at the age of 41 and in his fourth spell with Vasco in the second tier, Romario still scored an impressive 15 goals in 19 appearances before hanging up his boots in 2009 for good after a final stint at America, the club his father supported.
During his time in Barcelona, it was believed the striker lived in a hotel and kept another room at an alternative location. Hristo Stoichkov, his striker partner at Camp Nou, gave some insight into his character away from football.
“Romario was only interested in two things: football and f***ing,” Stoichkov told FourFourTwo, before adding: “Romario’s lifestyle, his constant coming and going caused problems with his wife.”
After celebrating winning the World Cup with a summer of partying in Brazil, Romario’s footballing career took a turn for the worse after his partnership with Stoichkov collapsed.
“Romario never came back after the World Cup. His body was there but his mind was still in Rio,” Stoichkov claimed.
Even despite his advancing years, Romario is still a popular personality
“He trained alone and we hardly spoke. Then we had another argument because I didn’t like his friends at all. I tried to split him from them but I failed. It was never the same again.”
His fallout with Cruyff, who accused him of “lacking discipline”, was enough to send him packing back to his native land in Brazil just months after helping the club win La Liga.
“Romario’s skill on the pitch was in lying with his body,” Jorge Valdano, a former Real Madrid director, said. “In the end it was his undoing off it too: he lied to his president to go off with two blondes.”
While seems his taste for late-night romps has calmed over the past few years, it seems his passion for women remains. Back in 2019, he was known to be dating Ana Karoline Nazario, a student who is 31 years his junior.
Since advancing into his new career, Romario has cleaned up his act after spending the last decade building his reputation in politics.
Renowned as being an outspoken personality, Romario ran in the 2010 general election and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies on the Brazilian Socialist Party ticket.
When asked for his reasons behind the move, he revealed that a lack of support for his daughter forced him into action.
“When I stopped being a football player, it’s true that politics didn’t even enter my head,” Romario said, explaining his decision to change career.
“Then eight years ago my daughter was born with Downs Syndrome. I started spending time with parents, relatives and friends of people who have some kind of disability.
