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Romaria. Photo by André Corrêa/Agência Senado-

Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Romario

His real name is Romario de Souza Faria, popularly known as Romario, is a Brazilian politician who achieved global fame as a professional footballer. He is best known as a prolific striker for his clinical finishing.

In 1994 he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and came fifth in the FIFA Player of the Century internet pool in 1999. In 2002 he was elected to the FIFA World Cup Dream Team and named to the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players in 2004.

Learn more about Romario in these top 10 remarkable facts. 

1. Romario is a Former Professional Footballer

He achieved fame worldwide for playing football and is regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific strikers of all time.

In the 1990s, he was seen as the new breed of strikers who would operate outside the penalty area before running with the ball towards the goal together with former France striker Thierry Henry.

Romario had an excellent balance on the ball and strength despite his small stature. His small stature made him particularly effective in tight spaces in the penalty area and allowed him to retain possession of the ball under pressure from larger players.

He is notable for his trademark toe-pokes with back-lift or even from chipped shots. His ball control and dribbling skills saw him use elaborate feints such as dragging the ball around a defender without leaving his foot and the flip-flap.

Romario was well known for his speed, creativity and vision, which allowed him to link up with and provide assists for teammates. Despite his talent, he was criticized for being outspoken and having a poor work rate throughout his career

2. Romario Early Football Career

Photo by Rob Croes for Anefo-

Romario was spotted in childhood when playing for Olaria, a small Rio de Janeiro suburb club. Due to his good performance, he was taken to the junior team of Vasco da Gama.

While at Vasco, he won two state league titles (1987 and 1988) and earned his first call-ups to the national team. He came to international attention when he became the top scorer at the 1988 Olympic football tournament.

3. He has Been Playing Footvolley and Beach Soccer

Since the 1990s, Romario has been a footvolley enthusiast, playing with friends in various tournaments. He won the VIP Footvolley.net Open in Miami Beach, USA, in 2016 and was runner-up in the 2011 Footvolley World Championship in Rio de Janeiro.

He also played Beach Soccer and represented Brazil (won the bronze medal) at the 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

4. Romario is a Brand Endorser

Romario appeared in several commercials, one of them was for the sportswear company Nike. In 1998 he starred in a Nike commercial set in an airport with several stars from Brazil national team, such as Ronald and Roberto Carlos.

He features in EA Sports’ FIFA video games series. Romario was included in the FIFA 14 Ultimate Team Legends.

5. Romario Thousandth Goal

Photo sourced on

He scored his 1000th goal, a penalty kick against Sport Recife, on May 20, 2007, while playing for Vasco da Gama. The Brazilian press stated he was one of few players in professional football history to achieve this like Pele. Puskas, Binder and Friedenreich.

The goal drew attention from both Brazilian and International press, with the game being stopped for over 20 minutes to allow celebration. FIFA congratulated him for this milestone but stated he is officially on 929 goals as 77 came in youth football and other unfriendly official matches. 

Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) estimated his career tally to be 968 goals in 1188 games. Romario released a DVD with the best goals of his career, totaling 900 goals in 2008.

Following the thousandth goal, Vasco da Gama unveiled a statue of Romario at the Estadio Sao Januario.

6. Romario Played in Various Football Club

Romario started playing for Vasco da Gama from 1987- 1988; in 1998, he joined PSV Eindhoven in 1993 and moved to Spain’s FC Barcelona. While in Barcelona, he was named FIFA World Player of the year in 1994.

He rejoined Vasco da Gama in 2000 and finished the 2000 and 2001 seasons as the Brazilian leagues’ top goal scorer. He then started playing for Fluminense between 2002 and 2004.

7. He Was a Member of the Brazilian National Team

Photo by Rob Croes for Anefo-

Romario played for the Brazil national team; he won the silver Olympic medal in Seoul in 1988, finishing as the goal scorer with seven goals in six matches. He used to be among the Brazilian squad in the World Cups since 1990.

He played his last game with the Brazilian national team on April 27, 2005, in a friendly and celebratory match in Sao Paulo. Romario successfully campaigned for Brazil to be awarded host status for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

8. Romario was Player-Manager at Vasco da Gama

On October 24, 2007, it was announced that Romario would take charge of his first match as an interim manager of Vasco against Club America and participate on the field as a player.

Vasco da Gama president Eurico Miranda declared to Globo Online that Romario would be in charge of the team for the match but only temporary. On February 6, 2008, Romario objected to Miranda’s intervention in the team selection, he was fired but remained contracted to Vasco as a player.

9. He is a Brazilian Politician

During the 2010 general election, Romario was elected to the Chamber of Deputies on the Brazilian Social Party ticket. He was the sixth most voted candidate for deputy in Rio de Janeiro.

Romario was elected to the senate on October 5, 2014, with the most votes received ever by a candidate representing the state of Rio de Janeiro. In June 2017, he joined Podemos, becoming president of the State of Rio de Janeiro party.

In 2018 he ran for governor, finishing in fourth place. In April 2021, he switched parties to the Liberal Party and in October, he publicly endorsed the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.

10. Romario Announced his Retirement in 2008

He announced his retirement from playing and coaching on February 5, 2008, effective at the end of March. Many fans thought he would retire from playing, not coaching.

During the announcement, he made it clear he would only concentrate on the FIFA Confederations Cup and helping with the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On March 27, he retired.

On April 15, 2008, at his DVD launch, he announced he would retire from the game of football, citing his weight as the major factor. However, in August 2009, he announced he would come from retirement to play for America Football Club from Rio de Janeiro. To fulfil his late father’s wishes.

He made his Comeback on November 25, 2009, during the 68th minute of the match between America and Artsul replacing Adriano. However, he didn’t score. America won 2-0, which helped the club to win the Carioca Championship Second Division title.