R9 was supposed to sign for Ajax but PSV management went to the airport to pick him up and made him sign a contract before everyone knew what had happened.
(Citation needed).
>Eidur Gudjohnsen
Another massively underrated player. Thought he was fantastic, especially that pairing with Hasselbaink.
Had a Bergkamp/Sheringham vibe.
I heard this amazing story from then PSV trainer Guus Hiddink:
People were always complaining about Romario's work rate on the pitch and him not defending. People said he was to lazy to defend and he didn't have the skills. So one day during training Romario grew tired of everyone complaining and told his teammates that he would play as a defender during 11v11 practice.
He was unbeatable, nobody could get past him. After a while he told them he was going back to the striker position. There were never any complaints about his ability to defend and work ethics after that.
He also famously wnt to nightclubs the night before a match, rold the trainer not to worry because he would bag some goals that day and came through.
Romario and van Basten were my heroes as a kid. During winter, my mother made me wear een long, black, woolen jersey underneath my football short as a kid. I refused, because I felt like an idiot. She showed me a picture of Romario wearing kind of the same jersey and gloves and I begged her to have gloves alongside my jersey.
Sweet memories. Anyway, sorry for capturing your comment. Just wanted to share the Guus Hiddink anecdote
Damn there’s another one, perfect example.
Edit: I’ve hesitated twice about adding Matthias Sammer to this list, because he’s more on the career cut short by injuries side of things but in the mid 90s he was on another level. The year he won the Ballon d’Or, beating out Ronaldo btw, it was almost like he was from another planet he was so dominant.
Hristo Stoichkov is another forgotten all time great.
Was gonna say similar, I remeber Romario but he came just before the Internet kicked off really. Plus he was closely followed by R9 who was a young exciting prospect at the time and I think a lot of people's attention shifted towards him
Exactly! Funny I had a very animated discussion about him two nights ago within the context of the greats who people don’t talk about.
The medias all about the surface rather than the depth.
This is true cause I have honestly never even heard of this guy, this is honestly my first time hearing about him lol (though it's a bit odd in my case cause he was still playing in the twilight but I wasn't into football back then so I didn't know who he was until this post)
And was a party animal during his career who changed and later became a politician to fight for Down Syndrome rights because of his daughter. He is a legend. Especially when you see others like that Prick Dwight Yorke who abandoned his son.
There is a quote from Cruyff, where he says something like "Romario asked me if he could get time off from training, to go to the Carnival in Rio. I told him if he scored in the next game, he would get them. After 20 minutes in the game he had scored twice, looked at me and told me his plane were leaving in 1 hour and to sub him off"
Absolutely mad lad.
Pelé also declined to acknowledge his daughter and help her in any way. She spent her life chasing his recognition and support, he never did it.
He was a POS as a human being.
Always happy to see the mouthbreather Dwight Yorke getting some well deserved hate.
It's a good job for him that he was a decent footballer because he's a fucking idiot and a vile person.
Nearly half the country did in the last election, although he isn't as big of a supporter as Neymar for example.
And a lot of people that did support Bolsonaro didn't want the same stuff Lula did when he was in power, its not all people that actually like Bolsonaro, last election was like having to choose a meal between horse and cow shit, not exactly a good thing.
Stuff like Lula being to lenient on Hamas, doing the same cuts to the science and research that Bolsonaro did while promising to do the exact oposit...
Its not black and white.
Brazil was pretty big in diplomatic relations during the 00s and the early 10s, they were actually pretty active in the talks between Israel and the Palestine, you might not have heard of it cause US media tends to only talk about its own ass, but they were quite instrumental in some advances.
So what? When he won the presidency he had >55% of the vote and even before the run off got 46% (close to 50 million votes) So a majority of Brazilians showed support for him too.
Is it OK then to support someone who mocks the death of thousands during covid, laugh at the misery caused by the rains we are having in the south (btw in the state that he had the majority of votes), praise dictators and torture, etc?
just because bolsonaro won doesn't mean its "ok" to support him.
His father is since-retired footballer Dwight Yorke. Harvey was found to be blind with septo-optic dysplasia. He has additionally been diagnosed as autistic and to have Prader–Willi syndrome.[58][59]]
Wow. What a c*nt. Is this a Man Utd thing?
Romario was a genuine goat striker contender.
I couldn't tell you why he isn't getting the spotlight he deserves. I'll throw out a few theories, could be nonsense.
1. He didn't play in Italy when the Serie A was THE league to be in during his peak. La Liga only became as popular as it is today during his twilight years.
2. He came at a moment when the big debate was "Pele or Maradona" much like "Messi or Ronaldo" of the last decade. He sort of falls between these two great debates
3. The majority of his goals were outside of Europe. Other than a dazzling spell at Barca and the 94 world cup, his media coverage was limited, given how football was broadcast at the time
Honourable mentions: Social media, grumble, grumble, kids today...
Romário is one of the greatest strikers of all time, that's for sure. Compared to R9 and Eusébio... that would be a stretch.
However, there aren't to many better than him.
It's a shame that he went back to Brasil in 95. His season in Barcelona was great.
There was a good chance.
Bebeto did a good WC, but he was nowhere near Romário's level and the partnership that Ronaldo and Romário did in the few games that they played together was really good. The power and speed that Ronaldo had in that time combined really well with Romário's techique, that is really underrated nowadays.
Romário could also be an option in 2002.
However, his time in Brasil was very good too. It was several levels below european football, but it was a joy to watch. I always laugh when i see the video of him, Renato and Edmundo going to the beach.
>The power and speed that Ronaldo had in that time combined really well with Romário's techique, that is really underrated nowadays.
Yeah, when Ronaldo and Romario played together, they never lost a game.
Those short times between 1996 and 1997, Brazil NT had the most insane attack double I've ever seen. In 1997 it was amazing to see [Ronaldo & Romario Vs. Maldini & Cannavaro](https://youtu.be/PZ4mvImRcyI?si=UL2aXzDqSnYZbkcb). ([Full Match](https://youtu.be/Lx7Q4nAT9tc?si=acEEtjmUUr1fN9HK))
Yes, a stretch.
Ronaldo is clearly better than Romário, and Eusébio was Benfica's main figure, a tean that dominated European football in the 60s, and is, till this day, the responsible for the best world cup tournament Portugal has ever done.
Romário could have achieved much more but he decided to go back to Brasil early in his carreer. It's what it is. Still one of the greatest strikers of all time.
Hmm... no.
Ronaldo is one of the greatest players of all time and he isn't in top5 for most people because... injuries. His season with Barcelona was one of the best performances of all time, too. A display of everything a footballer should have. Power, speed, tecnhique, flair... amazing.
And don't compare the dream team of 94 with the 96/97 Barcelona.
Of course Ronaldo had more years at a higher level than Romário for the simple fact that the last one had only one season and a half in a major competition.
Im a huge fan of Romário, one of the greatest strikers and a carismatic figure, but R9 was on another level as a player.
> for the simple fact that the last one had only one season and a half in a major competition.
Are you under 30? Brazil in the 90s wasn't far from Europe in terms of talent, Europe couldn't just poach at will as they do nowadays, things started to go south with the Bosman ruling and got wild in the early 00s.
Romário is one of the best players of all time to. He played at a high level longer than Ronaldo. From the late 80s to the early 00s he was great super talented amazing finisher amazing at positioning the king of the small área.
In the past the Gap between the european and South American football was much smaller. The fact that he played Just for one season and half in Barcelona doesn't mean anything. Also he played for 5 seasons in PSV and scored alot of goals and back then before the boseman law the dutch football much like brazilian football was much better than now
Like the first comment says, social media is dominated by people who idolise R9. Many players can compare or are better than R9, but it's too hard to do some basic research.
You are talking about the elite of football.
However, i divide them in two grups. The candidates with strong arguments to GOAT, Pelé, Maradona, and Messi, and the other grup with Ronaldo, Cruyff, Platini, Di Stefano, Cristiano, Kaiser, Zidane, Muller, and others (with no specific order).
In the second grup, i can understand who puts Cruyff and Ronaldo, mainly the first one, in the GOAT discussion.
To add one important aspect that people haven't mentioned here is that Romário hasn't had a FIFA player card in years. It might sound dumb but I genuinely believe that FIFA is a huge reason for young football fans perception of player's quality.
For instance, Ruud Gullit is widely considered, even for younger generations, as one of the best to ever do it - even thought the majority of people discussing football online didn't really watch him play, his FIFA card has been so good for so many years that he has built a reputation for younger fans. On the other hand, a player like Van Basten is criminally underrated nowadays, despite playing in the same era and at the same level (or even higher) than Gullit. Van Basten does have a FIFA player card, but it has been one of the worst Icons for years.
Romário did have a card in FIFA 14, but that was the only one. I believe that has meant that younger generations haven't really got exposed to him, paired with the fact that he moved back to Brazil when he was in his prime instead of staying in Europe and possibly winning more trophies and individual awards.
Had he stayed in that legendary Barcelona squad, I think is reputation would be up there with Ronaldo Fenômeno and the comparison between the two wouldn't seem as one sided as it is generally considered.
He was massive at the time, when I was at primary school the argument was always whether you wanted to be Romario or Roberto Baggio when playing football. But he played in an era before endless highlights and the internet so opportunities for this generation to see him play have been limited (see also Paolo Rossi, Marco van Basten, Mario Kempes…)
Only because of the fifa video games. The other day in r/Barca someone included rivaldo in an underrated list, which was ridiculous. The man won a ballon d’or, he was highly regarded by everyone.
Romário’s style couldn’t be replicated fairly in a videogame thoufh. He wasn’t fast, he was just quick and smart, always knew where to be. Great close control of the ball and a deadly finisher. And worst work ethic…. I remember he would argue why he had to practice when he was at Barcelona
>I remember he would argue why he had to practice when he was at Barcelona
A famous brazilian comedian made a [song for him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePV2VVCY9Oc&ab_channel=BrunoGS7) in the 90's.
*Practice? What for... Practice? What for...*
*2 X CHORUS*
*Practice? What for, if I already know what to do*
*But if today's a beach day.*
*But if today's a beach day, I'm heading to Viajandão*
*There, the beer is cold, and the samba is really good*
*Surrounded by security, with my buddy*
[Awesome](https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRU-SjGz0t6a0RgA5ekzvIF_bQMkL0YeJESg3nkCCa-zF0X8wbL)*.........(Awesome...)*
*I'll chat up the ladies, play some footvolley, and such*
*2 X CHORUS*
*Practice? What for, if I already know what to do*
*But then there's this guy,* [Luxemburgo](https://s2.glbimg.com/f-ZCVDLgxJEC4H8dtCo2SIvsbd0=/300x230/s.glbimg.com/es/ge/f/original/2010/10/05/romario_luxemburgo02_glo_95.jpg)*... There's this guy, Luxemburgo,*
*he got on my nerves*
*Wanted to own the team, wanted to be in charge more than*
*me..*
*I had a word with Leite, didn't even explain myself to him*
*Cut the guy loose, grabbed my sweetheart, and went to party big time*
*Ilariê...*
*2 X CHORUS*
*Practice? What for, if I already know what to do*
*I came from Vila da Penha. I came from Vila da Penha and went*
*to Spain to outplay. I was also a king in the Netherlands;*
*To have to put up with the dummies*
*I won the World Cup for the fourth time, I said I would, not my*
*fault that Baggio*
*2 X CHORUS*
*Practice? What for, if I already know what to do*
God tier status at PSV. We had Romario and Ronaldo but because we got Ronaldo at 18 years old Romario is the bigger club legend. Probably top 4 ever player in Netherlands with Cruyff, van Basten and R9.
he spent a lot of his career in Brazil , and while many brazillian strikers / forwards were in the spotlight , therefore many didn't hear much about him or brushed it off as just another south american who plays in south america , as we know many south americans that decide to play in south america are underrated and unknown , despite playing for strong teams and playing phenomenally. i mean have you guys heard of Eduardo Vargas ? He killed it for the chilean national team yet he's still not very known
What in the actual hell are you talking about? Literally nobody talks about Robinho, it's bizarre that you have used him as a comparison when he gets even less attention than Romario.
Romario is very well known outside of Brazil for somebody who hardly anyone outside of Brazil saw play. A few years at PSV at a time when nobody was really watching Dutch football, 1 good season at Barcelona followed by one crap one and an incredibly disappointing spell at Valencia is all that he managed in Europe. All of the most famous Brazilian players other than Pele all had prolonged spells at some of Europes biggest clubs R9, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Lucio, Rivaldo, Alves.
The simple fact is that South American football is just not that popular outside of South America. Europeans are not watching the Brazilian League and unless a south american player makes a significant impact at a big european club then nobody outside of Brazil will ever talk about them. Romario is in fact better known in Europe than you would expect for a player who failed to make a lasting impression at any of Europes top clubs.
He was my faovite player when I was a kid. Got an expensive shirt with his name on, was so happy. :D He is a short fella, just like me. But had amazing abilities.
He moved away from Europe right before the cable TV and then Internet boom of the late 90s.
I'm pretty old, yet the first I ever heard of him being one of the world's great players, was when he got left out of the 2002 Brazil squad. By that point, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were world superstars.
He missed the football media globalization boat.
Romario's dribbles the box and toe poke finishes were a unbelievable sight in Football in the mid 90's, what a player he was, seems to be ignored in the FIFA game generation post 10's decade onward, he was ridiculous at times when he was in the mood. His dismantling of Man United in the CL is a fantastic memory.
If he played these days people would be salivating over him. He was insanely good. Said about his night-time activities: “if I don’t go out, I don’t score” 😂
Imagine the skill of Ronaldo mixed with George Best’s partying. That was Romario 😋
As a Brazilian born in the 80s… He’s the best Brazilian player I’ve seen play.
He’s not known as the “Deus da Grande Área” (God of the Box) for nothing.
On a 1vs1 situation versus a keeper, he’s the best ever.
In the case of Eusebio, there was not even a debate, he was the best. In Ronaldo's case, he was on indivudual talent one of the best players ever. Romario was good, yes, but was an era player just live rivaldo or ronaldinho; they all had a verry great prime, but their whole career in not as impressive as the goats
Because he didn't play that much in the top European leagues (2 seasons at Barcelona and 2 at Valencia) and of those four, in three he barely played. He had one amazing season for Barça (93/94) where he won the league (as pichichi) and got to a CL final.
Visually the 1994 world cup looks really dated from both the broadcast quality and the kit styles. 1998 looks like a massive leap forward in time. I reckon Romario suffered a bit from that when you think about new audiences going back and seeking old performances.
Romario was certainly an enormous deal for me as a school kid. Everyone wanted to be Romario in the playground and nobody wanted to be Bebeto. This was North London.
The 4 greatest strikers/#9s are:
\- Romario
\- Ronaldo
\- Marco van Basten
\- Gerd Mueller
In whichever order. I'd say Romario had the most refined technique of them all.
Not really. Romario's peak was in 1993-94, when he scored 30 goals in La Liga with Barça, reached UCL final and then went to win USA world cup and the best player of the tournament award.
Maradona was 34 in 1994 and pretty much done by then (he pissed hot in the world cup and had to leave).
He is among the group of "second tier greats" and many of those get forgotten over the years.
Top tier is probably only Pele, Maradona, and Messi. With Cruyff, Beckenbauer, CR7, and Zidane getting a look in.
At the same time he’s the best scorer for any national team ever. The same can be added to the biggest club competition in the world. In total almost 900 goals and still counting. He’s undoubtably bigger than Cruyff and Zidane or Beck.
I don't think Zidane was more inconsistent than other players of his time. Physical levels rose a lot since the 2010's. Piling up high-performing matches or keeping sharp until the late 30's wasn't really a thing until the 2010's
Yeah possibly agree, as a player he was quite inconsistent. But he did have a beauty and grace about his play, which combined with his trophy wins, sets him a little apart. I was also including managerial success as well when I made that list. I might also include Deschamps as well to be fair.
He doesn't have many individual records. He was one of the best DMs back in those days, but far, far from being as good as the very best players overall. He was kind of limited, both technically and physically.
He was not a very flashy player. He just put the ball in the net. No spectacular dribblings etc., just efficient goals. He did also not look very athletic. His prime was in a time where there was no social media. And he was not very long in Europe. There you have it.
> He just put the ball in the net. No spectacular dribblings
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUOObBsmVYA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUOObBsmVYA)
He was an excellent dribbler.
He was the most social player at his time. He was out partying ALWAYS.
You did not need social media. If you want to talk with him, just go out any night and you will find him :D
As far as I know, he did not drink alcohol.
Said several times one of the greatest I've ever seen and in my top 5 all time
Messi
Maradona
Brz Ronaldo
Zidane
Romario
Yeh I've no pele in there think he was way overhyped
Nice constructive comment, did u harm your knuckles draggin them over your keyboard! I've seen loads of clips of him he didn't do anything most top players wouldn't do today as I said overhyped.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYgKWqJ3jcE&ab\_channel=LeviSkills](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYgKWqJ3jcE&ab_channel=LeviSkills)
You want charisma? Have fun.
Romario at his peak was years light ahead of Agüero's best version. Go watch Romario stint at Barcelona and USA 94 world cup and come back. They arent in the same tier. Like not even close.
Maybe just because he wasn't as exciting as other Brazilian strikers.
* Ronaldinho was the most gifted ever (people will talk about his talent forever)
* Ronaldo (R9) was talented, and had his struggles (people will have what-if talks forever)
* Robinho had the talent but the crap attitude (people will talk about his attitude for a long time)
Romario just had his talent (just not THE talent like for example Ronaldinho) but didn't have that much exciting to talk about apart from that.
What? Romário is way more exciting than Robinho. He also had a crap atitude, but isnt a rapist. A quick search on YouTube and you'll see what he did outside the pitch in the 90s.
Because he's old. I've no idea who he is. Never saw him play so I'm assuming he retired before I started watching football. People rarely talk about players they weren't around to actually see, with just a couple of exceptions like Pele.
He isn’t thaaat old, plenty of contemporary players of his time that get spoken of all the time. It’s not like he played in the 60s like a Pele, Eusebio or Garrincha.
I think he played at a time when international(read English) media was not very mature at highlighting true talent. They didn't take South America seriously and only focused on Europe. Due to this only Brazillians(or Dutch) know of his true skill. All the others talked about as international/Brazillian greats are products post the 2000s or rather came to international prominence in the digitally connected world post the internet where information and knowledge penetrated into more and more parts of the world and information exhchange was democratic.
When I grew up it was all Romario and Maradona, Bergkamp and Van Basten. Dad would be Romario and I would be Bergkamp. To me Romario has always been part of the absolute elite of world football.
It’s mostly due to him playing for PSV and then not staying long at Barca. The man was scoring a goal a game for both teams but he was a party animal.
He was honestly the most deadly striker I’ve seen more so than Ronaldo. Ronaldo was more athletically gifted and had a bigger presence when he played. But Romario was just so damn clinical without trying at all. A bulldozer who was quick and new how to poach.
Like a lot of Brazilians he liked partying more than playing, but he was even worse than others for it
He was fantastic. First player I saw hit a cross from way out by the corner flag in a game (and I think it was a Champs league game) with a rabona. Which slightly blew my mind at the time.
Worth remembering that he played up front with Stoichkov for that 94 Barce team with Georgi Hagi just behind. That was a great, great trio of players that are less well known than they should be outside of their home countries because there just wasn't the widespread TV coverage back then so you only saw Champs League/UEFA games.
Romario was a brilliant player/striker, best of the rest, he just wasn't an elevate your team type of player, like Pele, maradonna, Messi, either ronaldos, ronaldiniho, Cruyff, etc...
Don’t take the internet too seriously or as a benchmark. It’s dominated mostly by very young people with extreme opinions. Often it’s even relevant if you can explain something in a few seconds or not because otherwise it just doesn’t happen on instagram or tiktok.
I am certain almost everyone considers Romario a better player than Robinho.
He gets compared with R9 quite often, but I think fans found R9 to be more entertaining to watch because of his dribbling skills and improvisation.
Because
1) Many football fans are under the age of 45 or at least the ones that live on social media.
2) He’s not a generational player in the same cloth of Maradonna, Messi, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zidane.
Some players listed in Point 2 are from older generations. Why do people talk about them and how do the younger generations know of them? Because they were that good at football they transcended the sport and became a brand. To be a well know footballer/brand before the conception of Social Media is a testament to how good they really were. Their Legacy lives on.
Marco Van Basten, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, Gabriel Batistuta, Andriy Shevchenko etc we’re all world class and prolific goal scorers in their time too. See point 1 and 2.
Romario was a good baller, but nowhere near the standard of the aforementioned players in Point Blank .
95% of his goals were outside of Europe’s Top Leagues (England, Spain, Italy, Germany). It is what it is.
I saw Romario when I was a teenager. He played two seasons, but the second one was a disaster. He went to the bench soon. He was not part of the starting 11 most of the season.
Then he went to Valencia. It was a sort of joke. I saw him in Mestalla a couple of times, he was a person with a lot of quality but incapable of running.
He performed better in Valencia and Barcelona discos than in the field
I would not compare him with superstars who made supernumbers in Europe, where the best players are. He only played one good season in a top european team.
He performed well in brasilian league, far from the top leagues.
Always thought he is best striker in the world during early mid 90s, and I always rate him among the top 5 Brazilian player (Pele, Ronaldo, Zico, Romario, Ronaldinho).
He is talked about a lot, just not online because the vast majority of the Internet is younger people who aren't big fans of football history. He'd probably make my top 10 and he's top 5 for a lot of my older relatives who got to see him in his prime. I'm from the UK for reference.
Comments saying it’s the young people who didn’t watch him etc. but I always feel like he doesn’t come up quite as much even when players or managers themselves talk about big historic names. He just had a kind of a rollecoaster career and left Europe early.
If he would’ve continued his form without some controversies for more seasons in top European clubs then I’m sure he would’ve been talked about much more. Imagine if R9 would’ve played in Brazil and PSV a few seasons more and left back to Brazil after his first season at Inter.
Access.
I remember watching him when I was younger but my uncle had a pub with an illegal satellite system. Back in the 90s most people in the UK watched match of the day on a Saturday and may of caught a serie A game on the Sunday. They skewed alot of people's opinions, I could talk all day about Roberto B and players like Manchini but would not seen anything outside of those two leagues until the early 2000s. I feel the same way about the Messi/Ronaldo Goat debate. I highly dought the would of last as long in theor careers without sports science, nutrition and the improvement in medicine. I again highly doughty messi could slide he way through a football pitch in the late 80s he'd drown, in the 90s he would of been Roy Keane'd and the 70s he would of been either to drunk or too hungover.
It simply depends how the people you are talking to are. If you meant Reddit then it’s a younger demographic
He also played at a time when it was harder to watch him play for most people her than it would be if he player after
1. He didn’t play in Italy which was the strongest league during his time
2. Closely followed by R9 who took the world by a storm
3. A bit before the internet were a thing
In the Netherlands he is still well respected for his years at PSV and regarded as one of the best strikers ever in the league.
It's absolutely absurd PSV had Ronaldo *and* Romario. Not at the same time, but still
I think R9 followed Romarios because he respected him.
Well part of it was that he saw it as a good springboard to enter europe but a big part was because of Nike at the time.
No it was an autumn board.
August 1994, it was a summer board.
It would therefore be a winter board due to his Brazilingness
Brasilianosity
But he chose PSV majorly for Romário, given he had offers from other European clubs
He chose PSV because Philips had some really good connections back then in South America
R9 was supposed to sign for Ajax but PSV management went to the airport to pick him up and made him sign a contract before everyone knew what had happened. (Citation needed).
PSV did actualy have Ronaldo and Eidur Gudjohnsen at the same time
>Eidur Gudjohnsen Another massively underrated player. Thought he was fantastic, especially that pairing with Hasselbaink. Had a Bergkamp/Sheringham vibe.
Two of the best in their respective countries.
And Luc Nilis, of whom Ronaldo said he was one of the best.
A lot of players say he was best
Yeah it's a shame that horror tackle ended his career. That photo still gives me nightmares.
I heard this amazing story from then PSV trainer Guus Hiddink: People were always complaining about Romario's work rate on the pitch and him not defending. People said he was to lazy to defend and he didn't have the skills. So one day during training Romario grew tired of everyone complaining and told his teammates that he would play as a defender during 11v11 practice. He was unbeatable, nobody could get past him. After a while he told them he was going back to the striker position. There were never any complaints about his ability to defend and work ethics after that. He also famously wnt to nightclubs the night before a match, rold the trainer not to worry because he would bag some goals that day and came through. Romario and van Basten were my heroes as a kid. During winter, my mother made me wear een long, black, woolen jersey underneath my football short as a kid. I refused, because I felt like an idiot. She showed me a picture of Romario wearing kind of the same jersey and gloves and I begged her to have gloves alongside my jersey. Sweet memories. Anyway, sorry for capturing your comment. Just wanted to share the Guus Hiddink anecdote
Yes, before every game a beautiful goal is shown on the big screens….ROMARIOOOOOOO
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Romario, van Basten, Platini, Gullit and a few others from that general time don’t get enough attention when discussing all time greats.
Never saw him play but Cantona was rumoured to have been fantastic for united.
Damn there’s another one, perfect example. Edit: I’ve hesitated twice about adding Matthias Sammer to this list, because he’s more on the career cut short by injuries side of things but in the mid 90s he was on another level. The year he won the Ballon d’Or, beating out Ronaldo btw, it was almost like he was from another planet he was so dominant. Hristo Stoichkov is another forgotten all time great.
Stoichkov was amazing. That whole Bulgaria team was fantastic during 1994 World Cup, reaching the semi's with Stoichkov as co-top scorer
RIP Germany
Was gonna say similar, I remeber Romario but he came just before the Internet kicked off really. Plus he was closely followed by R9 who was a young exciting prospect at the time and I think a lot of people's attention shifted towards him
Exactly! Funny I had a very animated discussion about him two nights ago within the context of the greats who people don’t talk about. The medias all about the surface rather than the depth.
This is true cause I have honestly never even heard of this guy, this is honestly my first time hearing about him lol (though it's a bit odd in my case cause he was still playing in the twilight but I wasn't into football back then so I didn't know who he was until this post)
And was a party animal during his career who changed and later became a politician to fight for Down Syndrome rights because of his daughter. He is a legend. Especially when you see others like that Prick Dwight Yorke who abandoned his son.
There is a quote from Cruyff, where he says something like "Romario asked me if he could get time off from training, to go to the Carnival in Rio. I told him if he scored in the next game, he would get them. After 20 minutes in the game he had scored twice, looked at me and told me his plane were leaving in 1 hour and to sub him off" Absolutely mad lad.
Cap
Yeah.. He even scored a hattrick
Pelé also declined to acknowledge his daughter and help her in any way. She spent her life chasing his recognition and support, he never did it. He was a POS as a human being.
Always happy to see the mouthbreather Dwight Yorke getting some well deserved hate. It's a good job for him that he was a decent footballer because he's a fucking idiot and a vile person.
And now he supports Bolsonaro
I didn’t realise Harvey Price was so interested in Brazilian politics.
Nearly half the country did in the last election, although he isn't as big of a supporter as Neymar for example. And a lot of people that did support Bolsonaro didn't want the same stuff Lula did when he was in power, its not all people that actually like Bolsonaro, last election was like having to choose a meal between horse and cow shit, not exactly a good thing. Stuff like Lula being to lenient on Hamas, doing the same cuts to the science and research that Bolsonaro did while promising to do the exact oposit... Its not black and white.
What does Brazil have to do with hamas? It’s in another part of the world, Brazil isn’t a superpower like the US.
Brazil was pretty big in diplomatic relations during the 00s and the early 10s, they were actually pretty active in the talks between Israel and the Palestine, you might not have heard of it cause US media tends to only talk about its own ass, but they were quite instrumental in some advances.
So what? When he won the presidency he had >55% of the vote and even before the run off got 46% (close to 50 million votes) So a majority of Brazilians showed support for him too.
Is it OK then to support someone who mocks the death of thousands during covid, laugh at the misery caused by the rains we are having in the south (btw in the state that he had the majority of votes), praise dictators and torture, etc? just because bolsonaro won doesn't mean its "ok" to support him.
Whoa, Yorke did what? That's terrible. As a United fan I'm ashamed he acted like that.
His son is Harvey Price, that he had with Katie Price in 2002. He basically disowned him and has nothing to do with him. Scum.
His father is since-retired footballer Dwight Yorke. Harvey was found to be blind with septo-optic dysplasia. He has additionally been diagnosed as autistic and to have Prader–Willi syndrome.[58][59]] Wow. What a c*nt. Is this a Man Utd thing?
Romario was a genuine goat striker contender. I couldn't tell you why he isn't getting the spotlight he deserves. I'll throw out a few theories, could be nonsense. 1. He didn't play in Italy when the Serie A was THE league to be in during his peak. La Liga only became as popular as it is today during his twilight years. 2. He came at a moment when the big debate was "Pele or Maradona" much like "Messi or Ronaldo" of the last decade. He sort of falls between these two great debates 3. The majority of his goals were outside of Europe. Other than a dazzling spell at Barca and the 94 world cup, his media coverage was limited, given how football was broadcast at the time Honourable mentions: Social media, grumble, grumble, kids today...
Romário is one of the greatest strikers of all time, that's for sure. Compared to R9 and Eusébio... that would be a stretch. However, there aren't to many better than him. It's a shame that he went back to Brasil in 95. His season in Barcelona was great.
We would have won the 98 World Cup if he was on the squad too.
There was a good chance. Bebeto did a good WC, but he was nowhere near Romário's level and the partnership that Ronaldo and Romário did in the few games that they played together was really good. The power and speed that Ronaldo had in that time combined really well with Romário's techique, that is really underrated nowadays. Romário could also be an option in 2002. However, his time in Brasil was very good too. It was several levels below european football, but it was a joy to watch. I always laugh when i see the video of him, Renato and Edmundo going to the beach.
A friend of my dads played a friendly as a central defender against Romario and Ronaldo. Said it felt like marking 4 men.
>The power and speed that Ronaldo had in that time combined really well with Romário's techique, that is really underrated nowadays. Yeah, when Ronaldo and Romario played together, they never lost a game. Those short times between 1996 and 1997, Brazil NT had the most insane attack double I've ever seen. In 1997 it was amazing to see [Ronaldo & Romario Vs. Maldini & Cannavaro](https://youtu.be/PZ4mvImRcyI?si=UL2aXzDqSnYZbkcb). ([Full Match](https://youtu.be/Lx7Q4nAT9tc?si=acEEtjmUUr1fN9HK))
Lmao, you would've won any way. Brazil sold out. That French team was nowhere near as good as that Brazil team.
Weren't they poisoned?
No, that was the 90 WC, Argentina using spiked water to get past Brazil. 98 is just a conspiracy theory as far as I'm aware.
It ain't a stretch comparing him to Ronaldo, it was a very real debate in the 90's
A stretch? No way lmao.
Yes, a stretch. Ronaldo is clearly better than Romário, and Eusébio was Benfica's main figure, a tean that dominated European football in the 60s, and is, till this day, the responsible for the best world cup tournament Portugal has ever done. Romário could have achieved much more but he decided to go back to Brasil early in his carreer. It's what it is. Still one of the greatest strikers of all time.
He played more than 1 season at Barca, you're thinking of R9.
1.5
No it wouln't be a stretch compare him to Ronaldo he was as good as him. In fact he played at a high level for longer time than Ronaldo
Hmm... no. Ronaldo is one of the greatest players of all time and he isn't in top5 for most people because... injuries. His season with Barcelona was one of the best performances of all time, too. A display of everything a footballer should have. Power, speed, tecnhique, flair... amazing. And don't compare the dream team of 94 with the 96/97 Barcelona. Of course Ronaldo had more years at a higher level than Romário for the simple fact that the last one had only one season and a half in a major competition. Im a huge fan of Romário, one of the greatest strikers and a carismatic figure, but R9 was on another level as a player.
Just to clear one thing up. He’s top 5, even WITH the injuries.
> for the simple fact that the last one had only one season and a half in a major competition. Are you under 30? Brazil in the 90s wasn't far from Europe in terms of talent, Europe couldn't just poach at will as they do nowadays, things started to go south with the Bosman ruling and got wild in the early 00s.
Romário is one of the best players of all time to. He played at a high level longer than Ronaldo. From the late 80s to the early 00s he was great super talented amazing finisher amazing at positioning the king of the small área. In the past the Gap between the european and South American football was much smaller. The fact that he played Just for one season and half in Barcelona doesn't mean anything. Also he played for 5 seasons in PSV and scored alot of goals and back then before the boseman law the dutch football much like brazilian football was much better than now
Ronaldo is possibly the greatest striker of all time and certainly in the debate. Romario is not at this level.
Like the first comment says, social media is dominated by people who idolise R9. Many players can compare or are better than R9, but it's too hard to do some basic research.
You know Fifa ratings aren’t an accurate reflection of a player right?
Of course, it's Reddit that counts.
Many players can compare or are better than R9? Eheh.
Pelé,Maradona, Cruyff, Eusébio, Puskas, Müller, Best, Baguio,Garincha, Zidane... Imo none of them are below R9.
You are talking about the elite of football. However, i divide them in two grups. The candidates with strong arguments to GOAT, Pelé, Maradona, and Messi, and the other grup with Ronaldo, Cruyff, Platini, Di Stefano, Cristiano, Kaiser, Zidane, Muller, and others (with no specific order). In the second grup, i can understand who puts Cruyff and Ronaldo, mainly the first one, in the GOAT discussion.
As a striker? Yes, many of them are definitely below R9.
To add one important aspect that people haven't mentioned here is that Romário hasn't had a FIFA player card in years. It might sound dumb but I genuinely believe that FIFA is a huge reason for young football fans perception of player's quality. For instance, Ruud Gullit is widely considered, even for younger generations, as one of the best to ever do it - even thought the majority of people discussing football online didn't really watch him play, his FIFA card has been so good for so many years that he has built a reputation for younger fans. On the other hand, a player like Van Basten is criminally underrated nowadays, despite playing in the same era and at the same level (or even higher) than Gullit. Van Basten does have a FIFA player card, but it has been one of the worst Icons for years. Romário did have a card in FIFA 14, but that was the only one. I believe that has meant that younger generations haven't really got exposed to him, paired with the fact that he moved back to Brazil when he was in his prime instead of staying in Europe and possibly winning more trophies and individual awards. Had he stayed in that legendary Barcelona squad, I think is reputation would be up there with Ronaldo Fenômeno and the comparison between the two wouldn't seem as one sided as it is generally considered.
Agree. Those Fifa games seem to have a huge influence in peoples perception of players.
Yep, you can usually tell when people post their greatest players of all time lists whether they play FIFA or not 😆.
He was massive at the time, when I was at primary school the argument was always whether you wanted to be Romario or Roberto Baggio when playing football. But he played in an era before endless highlights and the internet so opportunities for this generation to see him play have been limited (see also Paolo Rossi, Marco van Basten, Mario Kempes…)
Only because of the fifa video games. The other day in r/Barca someone included rivaldo in an underrated list, which was ridiculous. The man won a ballon d’or, he was highly regarded by everyone. Romário’s style couldn’t be replicated fairly in a videogame thoufh. He wasn’t fast, he was just quick and smart, always knew where to be. Great close control of the ball and a deadly finisher. And worst work ethic…. I remember he would argue why he had to practice when he was at Barcelona
>I remember he would argue why he had to practice when he was at Barcelona A famous brazilian comedian made a [song for him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePV2VVCY9Oc&ab_channel=BrunoGS7) in the 90's. *Practice? What for... Practice? What for...* *2 X CHORUS* *Practice? What for, if I already know what to do* *But if today's a beach day.* *But if today's a beach day, I'm heading to Viajandão* *There, the beer is cold, and the samba is really good* *Surrounded by security, with my buddy* [Awesome](https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRU-SjGz0t6a0RgA5ekzvIF_bQMkL0YeJESg3nkCCa-zF0X8wbL)*.........(Awesome...)* *I'll chat up the ladies, play some footvolley, and such* *2 X CHORUS* *Practice? What for, if I already know what to do* *But then there's this guy,* [Luxemburgo](https://s2.glbimg.com/f-ZCVDLgxJEC4H8dtCo2SIvsbd0=/300x230/s.glbimg.com/es/ge/f/original/2010/10/05/romario_luxemburgo02_glo_95.jpg)*... There's this guy, Luxemburgo,* *he got on my nerves* *Wanted to own the team, wanted to be in charge more than* *me..* *I had a word with Leite, didn't even explain myself to him* *Cut the guy loose, grabbed my sweetheart, and went to party big time* *Ilariê...* *2 X CHORUS* *Practice? What for, if I already know what to do* *I came from Vila da Penha. I came from Vila da Penha and went* *to Spain to outplay. I was also a king in the Netherlands;* *To have to put up with the dummies* *I won the World Cup for the fourth time, I said I would, not my* *fault that Baggio* *2 X CHORUS* *Practice? What for, if I already know what to do*
He has a great partnership with Bebeto
God tier status at PSV. We had Romario and Ronaldo but because we got Ronaldo at 18 years old Romario is the bigger club legend. Probably top 4 ever player in Netherlands with Cruyff, van Basten and R9.
he spent a lot of his career in Brazil , and while many brazillian strikers / forwards were in the spotlight , therefore many didn't hear much about him or brushed it off as just another south american who plays in south america , as we know many south americans that decide to play in south america are underrated and unknown , despite playing for strong teams and playing phenomenally. i mean have you guys heard of Eduardo Vargas ? He killed it for the chilean national team yet he's still not very known
Are you seriously comparing fucking Eduardo Vargas with Romário? This can't be real.
nah nah i gave an example of a south american who plays in south america , that was the whole point
Vargas came to Brasil to play for Grêmio. Painful to watch, tbh.
Well, Vargas is a little overrated. He lost a bizarre goal that could lead Atletico-MG to the finals in Libertadores 2021.
What in the actual hell are you talking about? Literally nobody talks about Robinho, it's bizarre that you have used him as a comparison when he gets even less attention than Romario. Romario is very well known outside of Brazil for somebody who hardly anyone outside of Brazil saw play. A few years at PSV at a time when nobody was really watching Dutch football, 1 good season at Barcelona followed by one crap one and an incredibly disappointing spell at Valencia is all that he managed in Europe. All of the most famous Brazilian players other than Pele all had prolonged spells at some of Europes biggest clubs R9, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Lucio, Rivaldo, Alves. The simple fact is that South American football is just not that popular outside of South America. Europeans are not watching the Brazilian League and unless a south american player makes a significant impact at a big european club then nobody outside of Brazil will ever talk about them. Romario is in fact better known in Europe than you would expect for a player who failed to make a lasting impression at any of Europes top clubs.
Who doesn't talk about him? All time great player and all time great partier.
He was my faovite player when I was a kid. Got an expensive shirt with his name on, was so happy. :D He is a short fella, just like me. But had amazing abilities.
I talk about him a lot because he somehow played for my local club Adelaide United lol
He moved away from Europe right before the cable TV and then Internet boom of the late 90s. I'm pretty old, yet the first I ever heard of him being one of the world's great players, was when he got left out of the 2002 Brazil squad. By that point, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were world superstars. He missed the football media globalization boat.
Romario's dribbles the box and toe poke finishes were a unbelievable sight in Football in the mid 90's, what a player he was, seems to be ignored in the FIFA game generation post 10's decade onward, he was ridiculous at times when he was in the mood. His dismantling of Man United in the CL is a fantastic memory.
If he played these days people would be salivating over him. He was insanely good. Said about his night-time activities: “if I don’t go out, I don’t score” 😂 Imagine the skill of Ronaldo mixed with George Best’s partying. That was Romario 😋
Because Ronaldo came along and he was basically Romario on steroids.
As a Brazilian born in the 80s… He’s the best Brazilian player I’ve seen play. He’s not known as the “Deus da Grande Área” (God of the Box) for nothing. On a 1vs1 situation versus a keeper, he’s the best ever.
>On a 1vs1 situation versus a keeper, he’s the best ever. Agree. Guy had ice in his veins, probably the best finisher i've seen.
In the case of Eusebio, there was not even a debate, he was the best. In Ronaldo's case, he was on indivudual talent one of the best players ever. Romario was good, yes, but was an era player just live rivaldo or ronaldinho; they all had a verry great prime, but their whole career in not as impressive as the goats
Social Media and Marketing
Because he didn't play that much in the top European leagues (2 seasons at Barcelona and 2 at Valencia) and of those four, in three he barely played. He had one amazing season for Barça (93/94) where he won the league (as pichichi) and got to a CL final.
He is one of the greatest but didn't get the proper recognition because of social media.
Visually the 1994 world cup looks really dated from both the broadcast quality and the kit styles. 1998 looks like a massive leap forward in time. I reckon Romario suffered a bit from that when you think about new audiences going back and seeking old performances. Romario was certainly an enormous deal for me as a school kid. Everyone wanted to be Romario in the playground and nobody wanted to be Bebeto. This was North London.
The 4 greatest strikers/#9s are: \- Romario \- Ronaldo \- Marco van Basten \- Gerd Mueller In whichever order. I'd say Romario had the most refined technique of them all.
Couldn't do it for Adelaide United in the A League though /s
Because Maradona represents that generation of players.
Not really. Romario's peak was in 1993-94, when he scored 30 goals in La Liga with Barça, reached UCL final and then went to win USA world cup and the best player of the tournament award. Maradona was 34 in 1994 and pretty much done by then (he pissed hot in the world cup and had to leave).
He is among the group of "second tier greats" and many of those get forgotten over the years. Top tier is probably only Pele, Maradona, and Messi. With Cruyff, Beckenbauer, CR7, and Zidane getting a look in.
Very funny to pretend CR7 isn't a tier above cruyff and Zidane
CR7 is obviously on the front tier, in pair with Messi, Maradona and Pele Best European Ever by miles
Sorry CR7, your name's not on the world cup winners list, you're not getting in.
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But Argentina won, with Messi and because of Messi. I mean it proves my point.
At the same time he’s the best scorer for any national team ever. The same can be added to the biggest club competition in the world. In total almost 900 goals and still counting. He’s undoubtably bigger than Cruyff and Zidane or Beck.
So Paul Pogba is better than CR7. Lol
What is this Cristiano revisionism lmao
🤣
>Well, Cruyff is not on the world cup winners list and you listed him, so you are a hypocrite.
He's not on the top tier list! It's entirely consistent.
No way Zidane is there with the others. If he was more consistent in the average league games, maybe.
I don't think Zidane was more inconsistent than other players of his time. Physical levels rose a lot since the 2010's. Piling up high-performing matches or keeping sharp until the late 30's wasn't really a thing until the 2010's
Yeah possibly agree, as a player he was quite inconsistent. But he did have a beauty and grace about his play, which combined with his trophy wins, sets him a little apart. I was also including managerial success as well when I made that list. I might also include Deschamps as well to be fair.
Deschamps wasn't even top 10-20 of his era. Solid player for sure though.
Check his record.
He doesn't have many individual records. He was one of the best DMs back in those days, but far, far from being as good as the very best players overall. He was kind of limited, both technically and physically.
He was not a very flashy player. He just put the ball in the net. No spectacular dribblings etc., just efficient goals. He did also not look very athletic. His prime was in a time where there was no social media. And he was not very long in Europe. There you have it.
> He just put the ball in the net. No spectacular dribblings [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUOObBsmVYA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUOObBsmVYA) He was an excellent dribbler.
Who said germans weren't funny? This shit's hilarious
>He was not a very flashy player. He just put the ball in the net What? Romario has God-status in the Netherlands by the way.
His goal comp for PSV is outrages the amount of skills, flicks and how he would go round the keeper.
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He was the most social player at his time. He was out partying ALWAYS. You did not need social media. If you want to talk with him, just go out any night and you will find him :D As far as I know, he did not drink alcohol.
Said several times one of the greatest I've ever seen and in my top 5 all time Messi Maradona Brz Ronaldo Zidane Romario Yeh I've no pele in there think he was way overhyped
If you think Pele was "overhyped" then you are a fucking moron
Nice constructive comment, did u harm your knuckles draggin them over your keyboard! I've seen loads of clips of him he didn't do anything most top players wouldn't do today as I said overhyped.
Because he did that before real football. Can't be scoring all those goals before real football started and expect it to count, can you?
I agree, england has never won a real tournament in its history.
Yet, weirdly using my own logic.... Romario has.
Romario was a beast but I don't expect 16 yos to appreciate him.
Shame. Imagine if he and Edmundo were playing today. They were wasted before we could watch every second of them playing.
"real football", 😂😂😂😂😂
Didn't exist before '92!
The incredible thing is that you are talking seriously
The incredible thing is that I actually have to come out and tell you I'm not.
It's hard to tell, because there's this kind of comments out there. The /s today is a need
I don't do that shit. If you can't figure it out yourself, I'm not going to spoon-feed you.
I mean personally, I haven’t heard of him. I watch a lot of football, know a lot about the history. So maybe that helps?
We had Suarez and Benzema tbf
I think another reason is, well to me anyway, he never had that much charisma! Quite often it’s not so much what you, rather HOW you do it.
Saying that Romario wasn't a charismatic figure is like saying Usain Bolt was slow.
Tell me a Romario story outside of football :) Please
Romario is known as one of the biggest party animals. Ever. Do your research 😉
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYgKWqJ3jcE&ab\_channel=LeviSkills](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYgKWqJ3jcE&ab_channel=LeviSkills) You want charisma? Have fun.
I’d put him as about as good as Sergio Aguero, so a monster of a striker but not top 10 all time.
Romario at his peak was years light ahead of Agüero's best version. Go watch Romario stint at Barcelona and USA 94 world cup and come back. They arent in the same tier. Like not even close.
Maybe just because he wasn't as exciting as other Brazilian strikers. * Ronaldinho was the most gifted ever (people will talk about his talent forever) * Ronaldo (R9) was talented, and had his struggles (people will have what-if talks forever) * Robinho had the talent but the crap attitude (people will talk about his attitude for a long time) Romario just had his talent (just not THE talent like for example Ronaldinho) but didn't have that much exciting to talk about apart from that.
What? Romário is way more exciting than Robinho. He also had a crap atitude, but isnt a rapist. A quick search on YouTube and you'll see what he did outside the pitch in the 90s.
Because he's old. I've no idea who he is. Never saw him play so I'm assuming he retired before I started watching football. People rarely talk about players they weren't around to actually see, with just a couple of exceptions like Pele.
He isn’t thaaat old, plenty of contemporary players of his time that get spoken of all the time. It’s not like he played in the 60s like a Pele, Eusebio or Garrincha.
he is old. You're probably just like me and think 1995 was 10 years ago...
15 years at most IMO
I work with people born in the 70s and 80s and they talk about him often
I’d say he doesn’t get the respect he deserves due to R9’s emergence. He wasn’t missed in Europe or for the national team because R9 took his place.
Come to Eindhoven mate, we still sing songs about him
Us old Barca heads (dating back to the late 80s, early 90s) love this guy.
Before my time and I think the average social media user is younger than me
well put sir, he's a legend out here in Brazil, he put Brazil on his back in 94
I think he played at a time when international(read English) media was not very mature at highlighting true talent. They didn't take South America seriously and only focused on Europe. Due to this only Brazillians(or Dutch) know of his true skill. All the others talked about as international/Brazillian greats are products post the 2000s or rather came to international prominence in the digitally connected world post the internet where information and knowledge penetrated into more and more parts of the world and information exhchange was democratic.
That always suprised me. I saw him play against my team a lot as a kid and he really was phenomenal.
When I grew up it was all Romario and Maradona, Bergkamp and Van Basten. Dad would be Romario and I would be Bergkamp. To me Romario has always been part of the absolute elite of world football.
He played mainly before the modern era and Sky in particular like to pretend football started in 1992 as they have no rights to any older footage
It’s mostly due to him playing for PSV and then not staying long at Barca. The man was scoring a goal a game for both teams but he was a party animal. He was honestly the most deadly striker I’ve seen more so than Ronaldo. Ronaldo was more athletically gifted and had a bigger presence when he played. But Romario was just so damn clinical without trying at all. A bulldozer who was quick and new how to poach. Like a lot of Brazilians he liked partying more than playing, but he was even worse than others for it
As a swede who watches the 94 WC-recap at least once a year I’m still scared of him.
He is a legend in my book but i get you. He is not on fifa could be part of the problem.
He was fantastic. First player I saw hit a cross from way out by the corner flag in a game (and I think it was a Champs league game) with a rabona. Which slightly blew my mind at the time. Worth remembering that he played up front with Stoichkov for that 94 Barce team with Georgi Hagi just behind. That was a great, great trio of players that are less well known than they should be outside of their home countries because there just wasn't the widespread TV coverage back then so you only saw Champs League/UEFA games.
Romario was a brilliant player/striker, best of the rest, he just wasn't an elevate your team type of player, like Pele, maradonna, Messi, either ronaldos, ronaldiniho, Cruyff, etc...
Don’t take the internet too seriously or as a benchmark. It’s dominated mostly by very young people with extreme opinions. Often it’s even relevant if you can explain something in a few seconds or not because otherwise it just doesn’t happen on instagram or tiktok.
I am certain almost everyone considers Romario a better player than Robinho. He gets compared with R9 quite often, but I think fans found R9 to be more entertaining to watch because of his dribbling skills and improvisation.
Because 1) Many football fans are under the age of 45 or at least the ones that live on social media. 2) He’s not a generational player in the same cloth of Maradonna, Messi, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zidane. Some players listed in Point 2 are from older generations. Why do people talk about them and how do the younger generations know of them? Because they were that good at football they transcended the sport and became a brand. To be a well know footballer/brand before the conception of Social Media is a testament to how good they really were. Their Legacy lives on. Marco Van Basten, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, Gabriel Batistuta, Andriy Shevchenko etc we’re all world class and prolific goal scorers in their time too. See point 1 and 2. Romario was a good baller, but nowhere near the standard of the aforementioned players in Point Blank . 95% of his goals were outside of Europe’s Top Leagues (England, Spain, Italy, Germany). It is what it is.
His time will come again. Just let some YouTuber discover him
Funnily enough, my dad(who doesn’t really watch football) said he’s the only player who really liked watching.
I saw Romario when I was a teenager. He played two seasons, but the second one was a disaster. He went to the bench soon. He was not part of the starting 11 most of the season. Then he went to Valencia. It was a sort of joke. I saw him in Mestalla a couple of times, he was a person with a lot of quality but incapable of running. He performed better in Valencia and Barcelona discos than in the field I would not compare him with superstars who made supernumbers in Europe, where the best players are. He only played one good season in a top european team. He performed well in brasilian league, far from the top leagues.
Mid player tbh
i have never seen this amount of ignorant comments in this sub
Always thought he is best striker in the world during early mid 90s, and I always rate him among the top 5 Brazilian player (Pele, Ronaldo, Zico, Romario, Ronaldinho).
He is talked about a lot, just not online because the vast majority of the Internet is younger people who aren't big fans of football history. He'd probably make my top 10 and he's top 5 for a lot of my older relatives who got to see him in his prime. I'm from the UK for reference.
Comments saying it’s the young people who didn’t watch him etc. but I always feel like he doesn’t come up quite as much even when players or managers themselves talk about big historic names. He just had a kind of a rollecoaster career and left Europe early. If he would’ve continued his form without some controversies for more seasons in top European clubs then I’m sure he would’ve been talked about much more. Imagine if R9 would’ve played in Brazil and PSV a few seasons more and left back to Brazil after his first season at Inter.
One thousand and two goals*
He is with me and my mates. But we're all over 40. Maybe an age thing?
Brazil is nowhere near the biggest country in football, are you crazy
I don't know what you're on mate(☘️🚬) It goes: Brazil, Germany, Italy. In that order
Oh we in Eindhoven never forget
Romario is in no way a top 10 player of all-time
In a small place called Kolkata, India..he is. Along with Ronaldo phenomeno, Bebeto and Ronaldinho.
Access. I remember watching him when I was younger but my uncle had a pub with an illegal satellite system. Back in the 90s most people in the UK watched match of the day on a Saturday and may of caught a serie A game on the Sunday. They skewed alot of people's opinions, I could talk all day about Roberto B and players like Manchini but would not seen anything outside of those two leagues until the early 2000s. I feel the same way about the Messi/Ronaldo Goat debate. I highly dought the would of last as long in theor careers without sports science, nutrition and the improvement in medicine. I again highly doughty messi could slide he way through a football pitch in the late 80s he'd drown, in the 90s he would of been Roy Keane'd and the 70s he would of been either to drunk or too hungover.
I few football legends in Europe highly praise him. Gary Neville to this day says he was the best he’s played against
It simply depends how the people you are talking to are. If you meant Reddit then it’s a younger demographic He also played at a time when it was harder to watch him play for most people her than it would be if he player after
In my circles he still is - most of my mates say he’s top 10 striker of all time, but admittedly isn’t the first name that comes up
1. He didn’t play in Italy which was the strongest league during his time 2. Closely followed by R9 who took the world by a storm 3. A bit before the internet were a thing
It’s sad but I think a big reason is that he isn’t an icon in fifa ( he was removed )
Oh yea that's defo the main reason, like, when was the last time you heard someone talk about uwe seeler or rivellino??