The legendary Brazilian player Romario de Souzawho today is a senator and owner of the soccer team in which he joined for his return to football, assured that modern soccer is not the same as before and criticized the attitude and style of the players, for which he assured that, If he were at his peak, his success would be greater than what he had in the nineties and he would score more than 2,000 goals.
The former Canarinha forward gave an interview to the EFE agency, where he recalled his best period as a soccer player, which he lived after the 1994 World Cup in the United States, where he was crowned the best player on the planet and his vision of contemporary soccer.
Romário, today gray-haired, but in shape, maintains the same spontaneity that characterized him during his sporting life. He expresses himself bluntly and shows that his charisma remains intact.
“I was always very direct and I had a moment when I was the best in the world and the best in the places I went through. I was always responsible for the victory and the one blamed for the defeat.“, it states.
Romário returned to professional football last weekend, in the match between América, the club he presides, against Petrópolis, at the start of the second division of the Carioca Championship, although his coach decided not to take him on the field.
The forward decided to return to football, mainly, to fulfill his dream of sharing a game with his son, something that It was not consummated because he was on the bench the entire game.
However, he took time to express his opinion. about modern footballNo, and he expressed that if today he were at his peak he would be even more successful than he was 30 years ago.
“I think that within the field My success would be greater because today the guys are very stupid. They run too much. In my time football was also physical, it was always like that, buto the players were much more technical and much more intelligent“, he assured.
And he finished: “I’m sure he would score more than 2,000 goals today.”
Romário is also on promotion these days. This Thursday, a documentary series premieres on the Max streaming platform that portrays its most intimate and controversial side and describes the behind-the-scenes journey to the Canarinha four-time championship.
July 17 marks 30 years since that final in Pasadena that was resolved on penalties against Italy. Romário was the best of the 1994 World Cup, a title that he actively and passively assured that he would win before the ball started rolling.
“I knew myself well enough and I knew my opponents, and I concluded that we were better than them,” he recalls.
He also recognizes that the fact of playing for FC Barcelona alongside players of the stature of Michael Laudrup, Pep Guardiola, Hristo Stoichkov, Andoni Zubizarreta, Miguel Ángel Nadal and Guillermo Amor, helped him because it gave him “a lot of confidence and experience.”
“They were fantastic players” and on the bench was “the greatest coach of all time in my opinion, whose name was (Johan) Cruyff,” he says.
Although he always had friction with his coaches. Famous were his clashes with Luis Aragonés, with Cruyff himself, as well as with Carlos Alberto Parreira and Mário Zagallo in the national team.
Romário has never hidden that he did not like training. “I liked the party a lot. Today I like it a little less because I also have less time,” he jokes.
To defend himself, he brings up that he played at a “high level” until he was 41 years old and “that, without minimal training, is not possible.”
Although at the same time he recognizes that today he could not lead that frenetic lifestyle.
“Today I wouldn’t be able to live that way as a soccer player because that globalization, the Internet, with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter… Those shits would ruin me for sure,” he says.
It would also be difficult to decide when and how to train. Romário says that he liked to do just finishing and starting exercises, and that he agreed with the presidents of the clubs to have the freedom to suddenly not attend training for two days without giving explanations.
“When I returned to Brazil, I spoke with the president of Flamengo, with Vasco, with Fluminense, and we closed an agreement. Then the coach asked me and I told him: talk to the president. That time was an absolute success,” he concluded.
*With information from EFE.
Keep reading:
· Romário confirmed his return to football at 58 years of age
· Romário postponed his return to football and was not able to play alongside his son in the América match
· Romário: From World Champion to President of the Brazilian Congress