Barcelona legend Romario says players nowadays are 'stupid' and claims he 'would score more than 2000 goals' if he played in the current era
Barcelona legend Romario has claimed he would've scored more than two thousand goals if he had played in this generation because today's players are 'stupid'. At 58, Romario recently shocked the world by coming out of retirement and representing America Football Club in order to play alongside his son Romarhino.
The ex-Barcelona marksman is also the President of the Brazilian club, which is currently playing in the second tier of the Rio regional competition. In an interview with the Efe agency, Romario compared today's players with those of his generation and lauded the latter's technical ability and intelligence.
Romario criticized current players for running too much and not using their intelligence on the football pitch. He further claimed that he would score more than 2000 goals if played top flight football today.
"I believe that on the field I would be more successful, because nowadays players are very stupid, they run too much. At my time, players were more technical and much more intelligent. If it were today I would score more than 2000 goals," he said (translated from Portuguese to English).
Romario, who was known for living a colorful life, also commented on the extravagance of the bygone era's players. However, he noted that his past lifestyle wouldn't be possible in this generation because of social media. According to him, this would've ruined the his career.
"Today I wouldn't be able to live like that, because with globalization, the internet, social networks... that rubbish would definitely ruin my career," Romario commented.
Romario's career in numbers. How many goals did he score for FC Barcelona?
Romario is the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of world football, with a whopping 755 goals to his name. The only three other players who have bettered him are Cristiano Ronaldo (891), Lionel Messi (833) and Pele (762).
The Brazilian played for FC Barcelona from 1993 to 1995. In 66 appearances, he scored 39 goals and won the La Liga title in the 1993-94 season. In the 1993/94 season, the Barcelona striker was also declared the top scorer in La Liga with 30 goals. He also led the Catalan club to the Champions League final, where they lost 4-0 to AC Milan.
In terms of career achievements, the Barcelona legend won the FIFA Best Men's Player award in 1994, the same year Brazil won the FIFA World Cup. He has also won the Copa America for the Selecao twice and was crowned the Confederations Cup winner in 1997. For PSV Eindhoven, he won three Dutch Leagues and three Dutch Cups and was crowned the Dutch Super Cup winner twice.
Romario has also been named the top goalscorer sixteen times in various top-flight competitions.