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Romario strikes a blow for older generation
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-15 09:58
He has continued to torment defences in Brazil, however, playing first for
Flamengo and then for Vasco da Gama, where he finished as top scorer in the 2001
Brazilian championship at the age of 35.
 The following year, Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari defied popular pressure
by refusing to pick him for the World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Romario moved to Fluminense shortly afterwards but appeared to have missed
his chance to stop while the going was still good.
In October last year, he was sacked by the club after an injury-plagued
season which reached its low points when fans jeered him off the field.
Undeterred, he moved back to Vasco, the club where he began his career, at
the start of this year but initially continued to make more headlines for his
privileges than his football.
In February, he was allowed time off to play in the Beach Soccer World Cup.
Then he was excused from playing in a important cup tie because it involved an
11-hour plane and bus journey.
Finally, he took 10 days off after falling out with former coach Dario
Lourenco.
Vasco were struggling against relegation and, when he did play, Romario's
static presence appeared to have become a burden to the team.
But when Renato Portaluppi became Vasco's third coach of the year in July, he
announced, amid general incredulity, that his team would be "Romario, plus 10."
ROMARIO SPOONFED
An even bigger surprise was that Portaluppi's gamble paid off.
Like Romario, Portaluppi's own playing career had been punctuated by breaches
of discipline, a dislike of training and rows with his coaches.
He seemed to understand that Romario was a special player who needed to be
pandered to.
Romario was allowed to follow his own fitness programme, even if it meant
missing team practices, and the team was built to spoonfeed him.
The goals began to flow and helped Vasco to climb away from the danger zone
as they eventually finished a respectable 12th in the 22-team table.
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