This Saturday, Romário postponed his return to professional football at the age of 58 after watching from the bench the 2-0 victory of his América de Rio de Janeiro team over Petrópolis at the start of the second division of the Rio de Janeiro Championship.
There was great expectation regarding the possible return of the world champion with Brazil in the United States in 1994 and current senator, who was not able to enjoy even a minute of play on the grass of the Giulite Coutinho stadium, on the outskirts of Rio.
From warming up to the bench
Romário warmed up with the rest of his teammates before the initial whistle and sat on the reserve bench dressed in shorts and a green dungarees over his uniform.
The legendary attacker celebrated the two goals of América, the club he presides, like one more and said goodbye giving the fans a round of applause and making a heart with his hands.
In a press conference prior to the match, the former PSV Eindhoven, FC Barcelona and Valencia player, among others, said that he expected to play the last “fifteen or twenty minutes” of the match, but the score was very close until the end.
His son did play
The Brazilian star was not an alternative in any of the five changes that the coach made, which He did bring on Romario’s son, Romarinho, in the final stretch.with whom the legend dreams of playing side by side.
The first goal was the work of Say, in the 16th minute. From there, the duel was even and it was not until the 70th minute that Andre He sealed the score with a cross shot.
André, a forward who in the past shared a dressing room with Neymar at Santos, provided the assist for the first and scored the second, which he celebrated with a race to the bench to embrace Romário in a hug.
The next opportunity
‘O Baixinho’ will have a new opportunity next Sunday against Cabofriense at the Luso-Brasileiro stadium in Rio. His main objective is to be able to meet his son on the field at least once.
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Romário hung up his boots in 2009, precisely playing for América, a humble club from Rio that played 19 seasons in the first division, but now does not compete in any league at the national level.
A year after his retirement as a footballer, Romário began his political career, he was elected federal deputy for the state of Rio de Janeiro and since 2014 he has held a seat in the Senate.
