He is back. The Brazilian Romario, 1994 world champion, will put on his boots again at the age of 58 to help the club he chairs, announced Tuesday the legendary center forward who took a late retirement from sports almost 15 years ago.
“I'm not going to play the entire championship, but I'm going to play a few matches with the team of my heart and realize one last dream: playing alongside my son,” wrote Romario, who celebrated his birthday in January in the company notably from Neymar, on his Instagram account.
He will wear the jersey of América de Rio de Janeiro, the club he has chaired since January and under whose colors he played briefly in 2009. He is expected to play in the second division tournament of the State of Rio de Janeiro ( Campeonato Carioca Serie A2) which starts in May and ends in August.
A political career since his sporting retirement
The winner of this competition will play in the first division of the State of Rio at the beginning of 2025, where Rio teams who are part of the Brazilian elite, such as Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama and Botafogo, compete.
Since his sporting retirement, after a long career in Brazilian clubs (Vasco da Gama, Fluminense, Flamengo) and a stint in Europe (PSV Eindhoven, FC Barcelona, Valencia), Romario has become involved in politics and is a senator, elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2022.
At América, a club founded in 1904 which is going through a serious economic crisis, Romario will therefore play alongside his son, the striker Romarinho. The latter signed in March.