“Now I can score more than 2,000 goals because the players are so stupid”

World champion, senator and born provocateur, Romario He returned to playing shorts with América de Rio de Janeiro at the age of 58 and assures that in today’s football he will score “more than 2,000 goals” because the players are “so stupid” and run too much.

The former forward of Canary He spoke to EFE about his preparation for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, which crowned him the best player on the planet, his troubled relationship with coaches and his vision of contemporary soccer.

‘O Baixinho’, Now with gray hair, but in shape, he maintains the same spontaneity that characterized him during his sporting life. This is expressed without ambiguity. 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 success and responsible for defeat,” he said.

Last Saturday, he felt like a footballer again in the game between América, the club he leads, against Petrópolis, at the start of the second division of the Carioca Championship.

Romario He decided to return to professional football to fulfill his dream of sharing a locker room with his son. In front of Petropolis He sat on the bench the whole time, although he was convinced that if he was at his peak now he would be more successful.

“I think on the field my success will be greater because now men are so stupid. They ran too much. In my time, football was also physical, it was always like that, but the players were more technical and smarter,” he highlights. And he concludes: “I’m sure I would score more than 2,000 goals today.”

Romario There are also these promotion days. This Thursday, a documentary series that describes its most intimate and controversial side and describes the behind-the-scenes of the road to the Canarinha four-time championship premieres on the Max streaming platform.

July 17 marks 30 years since that last Pasadena resolution on sanctions against Italy. Romário was the best at the 1994 World Cup, a title he actively and passively ensured he would win before the ball started rolling.

“I know myself well enough and I know my opponents, and I concluded that we are better than them,” he recalls.

He also acknowledges that the reality of playing for Barcelona with players of the caliber of Michael Laudrup, Pep Guardiola, Hristo Stoichkov, Andoni Zubizarreta, Miguel Ángel Nadal and Guillermo Amorhelped 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 is (Johan). Cruyff“, he says.

Even though he always had a conflict with his coaches. His encounters are famous Luis Aragonesto himself Cruyffas well as CArlos Alberto Parreira and Mário Zagallo in choosing.

Romario He didn’t hide that he didn’t like training. “I liked partying a lot. Today I like it a little less because I also have less time,” he jokes.

To defend himself, he claims that he played at a “high level” until he was 41 years old and “that, without a little practice, is not possible.”

Although at the same time he recognizes that now he can not lead a brutal lifestyle. “Now I can’t live like that as a soccer player because globalization, the Internet, with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter… I’m sure those nonsense will destroy me,” he said.

It is also difficult to decide when and how to train. Romario He said he wanted to do only the end and start of training, and 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 one from Vasco, with one from Fluminense, and we closed an agreement. Then the coach asked me and I told him: talk to the president. That time was a complete success,” he confessed.