Hello, my friend! Ready for another Dica about Brazilian Football? Today, we will talk about the history of Romário! Romário had a career not only in Brazil, PSV, Cruyff, Barcelona, his success in 1994 and some of his partnerships with other players like Ronaldo, Bebeto and his problems with Edmundo. Romário is one of the best strikers ever!
Romário de Souza Faria
Brazil’s Romário was born on January 29th, 1966. He is one of the most famous Brazilian professional footballers. A prolific striker renowned for his clinical finishing, he is regarded as one of the greatest forwards of all time. Romário started as a professional player at Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama in 1985.
Romário in PSV
Soon after scoring many goals, he was transferred to PSV Eindhoven where he played from 1988 until 1993. He won the Eredivisie in 1989, 1991 and 1992. Romário was renowned for his ability to operate in the confined space of the penalty box! During his five seasons at PSV, Romário scored 165 goals in 167 games! Almost one goal per match! Isn’t that incredible? His coach during that time, Guus Hiddink, said Romário was overwhelmingly self-confident and always very laid back.
“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.”
Guus Hiddink
Romário was becoming a star! He got so much attention in 1993 that Barcelona decided to buy him.
Romário in Barcelona
For the Catalan club he kept up his fantastic scoring track and played with other skillful players such as Stoichkov, Michael Laudrup and Ronald Koeman for example. Playing for Barcelona they won the national league 1993 -1994. During his stardom in FC Barcelona, Romário’s name appeared on the news for a very valid reason.
In January 1994, Romário asked Johan Cruyff, the team manager at the time, for a time off to travel to Brazil. Why did he need to come to Brazil then? To enjoy the Carnaval of course! The manager decided to challenge Romário, promising that if he scored two goals in the next game, he would give him two extra days rest. Romário rocked Barça: scored two goals in less than 20 minutes! In Barcelona Romário was the top scorer with 30 goals in 33 matches.
Other Brazilian Teams
After 1994, back in Brazil Romário also played at an elevated level for Flamengo (1995 – 1999) and for Vasco da Gama again (2000 – 2002 and 2005 – 2007) when they won both the national league and Copa Mercosul in the same year (2000). In 2007 he scored his much celebrated 1000th goal.
Romário’s Thousandth Goal
Just like Pelé, Romário was also able to score one thousand goals, but at 40 he was a bit older than Pelé when he achieved this. He scored the goal playing for Vasco da Gama, it was incredibly special moment for him and the fans since he had started playing for the club at a youthful age early on in his career. See his goal at the video below:
Romário and the Brazilian National Team
Romário was as successful with the Brazilian Team as he was playing for the clubs. Besides playing several friendly matches, it was in the 1994 World Cup in USA that he could prove how good he was. He scored in almost all matches and led Brazil to its fourth world title against Italy and later FIFA honored Romário with the award for Player of the Year.
With his partner Bebeto, he created a deadly duo in the 90’s. Especially in the 1994 World Cup, Romário and Bebeto were crucial factors for Brazil’s victory. There is a very memorable goal that Romário made with the pass from Bebeto in the match against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. In the same game we have the famous image of them hugging in celebration after a goal that Bebeto scored and dedicated to his newborn son. In total they scored eight goals for Brazil in the 1994 world cup.
Did you know we have RioLIVE! activities to get to know the Maracanã, which hosted some of the most impressive matches during some World Cups? Come meet a great part of football history!
Romário’s Ups and Downs
Brazil’s Romário was in the news twice for being left out of the World Cup team. First time was in 1998 for medical reasons: he had muscular injury and hadn’t completely recovered in time to play. In 2002 Brazil’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari decided to ignore public pressure and didn’t include him as part of the team, even though he was the biggest goal scorer from the previous tournaments.
Another partner he had in his career was Ronaldo. They were part of the “R” Trio together with Rivaldo, in 1997, but they never went to a World Cup together. Romário and Ronaldo were proud of their coordinated movements which led to a lot of goals.
On the other hand, Romário had a problem with another brilliant Brazilian player: Edmundo. While Romário was left out of the 1998 World Cup, Edmundo went in his place. In response Romário decorated his bar, Café do Gol, with a caricature of Edmundo sitting on a deflated ball, hung on the bathroom door. Ouch! After that, Romário and Edmundo had an argument and the media exploited problems in the friendship.
Romário’s Titles

Vasco da Gama
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2000
- Campeonato Carioca: 1987, 1988
- Copa Mercosur: 2000
PSV Eindhoven
- Eredivisie: 1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92
- KNVB Cup: 1988–89, 1989–90
- Dutch Super Cup: 1992
Barcelona
- La Liga: 1993–94
Flamengo
- Campeonato Carioca: 1996, 1999
Al-Sadd
- Qatar Crown Prince Cup: 2003
América-RJ
Brazil
- U-20 South American Championship: 1985
- Olympic Silver Medal: 1988
- FIFA World Cup: 1994
- Copa América: 1989, 1997
- FIFA Confederations Cup: 1997
Individual
- World Cup Golden Ball: 1994
- World Cup Bronze Boot: 1994
- World Cup All-Star Team: 1994
- Onze d’Or: 1994
- FIFA World Player of the Year: 1994
- Ballon d’Or: 1994
- World Cup Bronze Ball: 2000
- FIFA 100: 2004
That’s it my friends! Now you know about Romário, his history at PSV and Barcelona, and even his performance at the 94 world cup. If you want to know more about Brazilian players, go to A Dica do Dia for more information! You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Go there and see what’s buzzing at our school.
See you soon!
Hugs from Rio de Janeiro!
Click on the links below and see more related Dicas
Rio de Janeiro Football Teams
Football in Portuguese
Footballer Pelé
Footballer Rivaldo
Online Academic Coordinator at Rio & Learn Portuguese School.
Experienced educational coordinator and teacher since 2007, adept in curriculum development, creating physical and digital educational materials, and leveraging online platforms to enhance learning outcomes