Agree to most points. Pele + Garrincha were the best pair ever made (in term of goals, beautiful play and bbuilding up for the team) while Ro-Ro partnereship was strictly a "license to kill" and a nitemare for any defense. I rated Pele Garrincha pair better (more compelete and multidimensional) but the RoRo was just slightly lower (they were as effective and decisive as the other though) It was a big miss at WC to have seen Pele + Garrincha at their peak (WC62) and 36 years later the world once again had missed the RoRo at WC98. I would not blame Roanldinho solely on his "disinterest" in the games. He was just a bit too "amateurist" in big games (he should have taken them much more serious and well prepared). Romario and Ronaldo were different type. They are like predators type, the more challenge the games are, the more they want to kill them off. (NOTE: especially for Ronaldo, it's so funny that his big games GPG was like >0.8 and his "friendly games GPG " was just barely 0.6)
agree... difference is minimal. The advantage that Pele and Garrincha lead is the beautiful game the two (irregular because Garrincha was an unpredictable player ... was brilliant in some matches and others in a horrific level) and the amount of games (40: 32 official and 8 unofficial ). They had more time to play together. Romario and Ronaldo only played 18 matches. I don't know if I can post today, but I will soon post the list of games Pelé and Garrincha together with a short analysis (summary of match reports) below. - Ronaldinho seems that treats all games as common... at all clubs he has problems with the fans due to their absence in big games. And he doesn't seem to be nervous (like Robben in 2010 and 2012) but by their lack of sense at the moment how important it is for the team. He is lucky to still have a chance to end his career in Brazil NT with a World Cup title and erase all the bad feeling of people built in 2006. Just depends on it.
LEÔNIDAS DA SILVA 1932 - 2 matches, 2 goals S11 1) 27/11 Brazil 7x2 Andarahy (Bra) S11 2) 04/12 Brazil 2x1 Uruguay - Copa Rio Branco - 2Goals 1934 - 20 matches, 21 goals S11 3) 27-05 Brazil 1x3 Spain - World Cup - 1Goal S11 4) 03-06 Brazil 4x8 Yugoslavia - World Cup - 2Goals S11 5) 08-06 Brazil 0x0 Gradjanski (Yug) S11 6) 17-06 Brazil 1x2 Catalonian Regional Team S11 7) 24-06 Brazil 2x2 Catalonian Regional Team - 1Goal S11 8) 01-07 Brazil 4x4 Barcelona (Spa) - 1Goal S11 9) 15-07 Brazil 6x1 Sporting (Port) - 1Goal S11 10) 22-07 Brazil 0x0 Porto (Port) S11 11) 07-09 Brazil 10x4 Galícia (Bra) - 2Goals S11 12) 09-09 Brazil 5x1 Ypiranga (Bra) - 1Goal S11 13) 13-09 Brazil 2x1 Vitória (Bra) S11 14) 16-09 Brazil 8x1 Bahia (Bra) - 4Goals S11 15) 20-09 Brazil 2x1 Bahia State Team - 1Goal S11 16) 27-09 Brazil 5x4 Sport Recife (Bra) - 1Goal S11 17) 30-09 Brazil 3x1 Santa Cruz (Bra) S11 18) 04-10 Brazil 8x3 Náutico (Bra) - 3Goals S11 19) 07-10 Brazil 5x3 Pernambuco State Team - 1Goal S11 20) 10-10 Brazil 2x3 Santa Cruz (Bra) S11 21) 13-10 Brazil 5x1 Bahia (Bra) S11 22) 16-12 Brazil 4x1 Palestra Itália (Bra) - 2Goals 1938 - 4 matches, 7 goals S11 23) 05-06 Brazil 6x5 Poland - World Cup - 3Goals S11 24) 12-06 Brazil 1x1 Czechoslovakia - World Cup - 1Goal S11 C 25) 14-06 Brazil 2x1 Czechoslovakia - World Cup - 1Goal S11 C 26) 19-06 Brazil 4x2 Sweden - World Cup - 2Goal 1939 - 2 matches, 2 goals S11 27) 15-01Brazil 1x5 Argentina - Copa Roca - 1Goal S11 28) 22-01 Brazil 3x2 Argentina - Copa Roca - 1Goal 1940 - 6 matches, 6 goal S11 29) 18-02 Brazil 2x2 Argentina - Copa Roca - 2Goals S11 30) 25-02 Brazil 0x3 Argentina - Copa Roca S11 C 31) 10-03 Brazil 3x2 Argentina - Copa Roca - 1Goal S11 32) 17-03 Brazil 1x5 Argentina - Copa Roca - 1Goal S11 33) 24-03 Brazil 3x4 Uruguay - Copa Rio Branco - 1Goal S11 34) 31-03 Brazil 1x1 Uruguay - Copa Rio Branco - 1Goal 1945 - 3 matches, 1 goal S11 35) 16-12 Brazil 3x4 Argentina - Copa Roca S11 36) 20-12 Brazil 6x2 Argentina - Copa Roca - 1Goal R 37) 23-12 Brazil 3x1 Argentina - Copa Roca 1946 - 1 match, 0 goal S11 38) 29-01 Brazil 1x1 Paraguay - South American Championship Matches: 38 (21W 8D 9L) - 37 matches in starting 11 - 3 matches as captain Goals: 39 (1.03%) • The friendly matches are unofficial. It would be unfair to make a list of Leonidas only with their official games, which are few. If anyone knows of history of football in this period I would like an explanation (perhaps because of the war), but there was virtually no official friendlies between NT. • I researched and unfortunately haven't found details on most of the goals listed above. Details like how the goal was made, assist and other things. Not to let the list incomplete, then decided to just post the matches and goals. • No one knows for sure how many games and goals Leonidas scored by Brazil NT. Most websites publish 37 matches and 37 goals, but don't detail what are those games. For this reason, I decided to look and found 38 matches and 39 goals. Maybe there's some game that is not from Brazil NT, but not yet able to confirm this. My research was done in RSSSF. I keep looking for good match reports of all these games. If I succeed, I'll post again with possible FKs, PKs and assists.
Great work again, Lucas! What I think is really interesting about Romario´s career on the National Team is that most of his goals (33 goals in 31 games) came when he was was already playing in Brazil, at the age of 31/35 years (97-2001). Many europeans fans disregard his career in Brazilian league, but in the national team he also proved that he really had a great longevity. Another interesting thing is how Zagallo tried to live without him in the National Team after WC94. No caps for him in 1995 and 1996.If the coaches (Zagallo, Parreira, Felipao) had trusted more on him, he would have done a lot more. Even with his bad relations with coaches and his injuries (WC 90 and, especially,WC98, it would have been amazing to see the Ro-Ro partnership on WC), he has managed to have great stats on the NT.
Romario, aged 31 onwards, no longer had the same speed as when it was young, but has become a much more lethal striker and able to position itself better. It was as if he could score goals without effort. I remember a match where he entered the second half, was less than 20s with the ball at his feet and scored 3 goals Unfortunately, Romario was prevented from having a career best NT in Brazil, mainly by Zagallo: 91/92/93: Zagallo and Parreira didn't want to call Romario and said the team could still be good without it. He was called in just two games in 92, was on the bench, he complained and didn't return. The consequence was a bad campaign in Brazil in the Qualifiers. In 93, against Uruguay, the people demanded Romario, Parreira called and Baixinho scored two goals, saving Brazil. 95/96: Zagallo jerk continues with the idea of not calling Romario. The reasons are his performances with Flamengo, saying he wasn't '' well''. Zagallo made a point of ignoring the great average in goal and the injuries suffered constantly. After defeats without having set the starting 11 and the popular pressure, Romario returns in 1997. World Cup 98: Romario gets hurt seriously, but would be able to return to the team after the first phase. He returned to play for Flamengo this period (Brazil vs Denmark). Zagallo, Americo Faria and Lidio Toledo preferred to withdraw Romario from the list. About Romario x Zagallo, in 2011 Zagallo said Romario feigned an injury to not play the final of the Copa America 1997 and other matches. Romario replied that obviously was damaged three times and that whenever he was called, solved the problem of team. 99/2000/2001: Romario returns to Brazil NT only in 2000 because Luxemburgo was his ''nemesis''. In 2001, Leão calls sometimes. And Scolari calls for the first game against Uruguay, but then no more calls. 91, 92, 93, 95, 96, World Cup 98, 99, 2000, 2002 = Romario not play for Brazil NT due to problems with Parreira, Zagallo, Luxa and Scolari. And despite it all, he played 70 matches and scored 55 goals. Incredible.
I know that adaptation and culture is an issue but I think the skepticism is based on a few things: - The first is simply a lack of knowledge or comprehension. Brazil has a plethora of competitions which are easily organised or abolished again. - Second is that Romario wasn't a big success at Valencia in 1996-97 and 1997-98. He also tried a few times afterwards to return to Europe. In 2001-02 he was, for example, interested in a return to PSV, with as explicit aim to improve his chances for a place in the world cup squad. - Which other top scorers of Brazil's primary competition was a major success in Europe, in the last 15 years? Edmundo scored in 1997 29 goals, a year before Romario returned. While Edmundo absolutely did not fail in Europe, he did not come close to 20 goals. Other topscorers like Dill, Viola, Fabri, Washington, Souza, Keirrison (who remembers him?) and Diego Tardelli all tried it in Europe, some of them even in a 'minor' league and failed. I've seen Tardelli playing for PSV Eindhoven and he simply did not impress in our joke league. Jonas, Luis Fabiano and Guilherme sort of succeeded in Europe but were all entering their physical prime when they moved to Europe. Those three names prove that examples of successes exist but the amount of failures is larger. Maybe due to adaptation issues. Last year (2012) Fred and Luis Fabiano ranked on top. While both had some good years in Europe, it was also in both cases a while ago. Fred had some bad years for Olympique Lyonnais before he returned to Brazil and now he is suddenly scoring like crazy again. Luis Fabiano is the same story, had a few so-so years and is now scoring again. In that respect I also look at Ronaldinho, who has resurrected or Clarence Seedorf, who was never a great goalscorer and is suddenly producing a good ratio. In defense of the players I have to say however that the teams are quite balanced in Brazil, it is not like in the European top leagues where two to four teams stand above the others. Because of this balance you see the natural ability of a player, so to speak.
Puck, I agree with you regarding the skepticism and defenses of Brazilian teams. There are few teams with strong defenses, perhaps the fault of the backward mentality that our coaches have over tactical schemes and other things. I don't agree that the level of Brazilian football is equal to the big European leagues let alone the CL. Now, in the case of the 90's players, the biggest problem is adaptation. Brazilian player is finicky and invents a lot of trouble. There is an interview from 1995 where the Viola says that was starving, in Valencia! In comparison, the same report showed how Roberto Carlos had adapted to Italy, probably because he just want to play football and was not with stupid demands. Edmundo had level to become a world class... he wasn't a Romario or Ronaldo, but was a amazing striker. Only its sale to Fiorentina was completed before the spectacular Brazilian Championship 1997 that he did. The result is that in 1998 he went round asking to return to Vasco. And there was the issue of the Carnaval... Edmundo also said that Florence was an ugly city and that there was nothing to do there. I don't know deeply about the history of Romario in Valencia, but he ''fought'' with Aragones in 1996 and Ranieri in 1997, besides not making an effort to play at a high level. Moreover, Romario lived with many injuries this period. In Flamengo, he never played a full Brazilian Championship. Dill, Rodrigo Fabri, Souza, Keirrison, Josiel and others = made their fame a bad time of the Brazilian Championship. Only a few years Washington has remained among the top teams, always criticized and Tardelli who is now returning to Atlético-MG. Keirrison only played well in Coritiba and disappeared, is garbage. About Fred, I think that what interested him was the proposal that the Fluminense. I think he is a great striker and could be successful in Europe. Adriano is another that has been lost by disinterest and overweight, but in 2009 he was the big player in the league. - What bothers me in opinion about Romario is that many underestimate him, for coming to Brazil in 1995. After 1995, he was still the best player in the world? Maybe in 1995, but then, of course not. But one must understand that his return came just for personal reasons of Romario. The level of their football wasn't bad. The proof is the importance and the numbers he had for Brazil NT between 97-2001. Romario played just one season in a major European league and became the best player in the world. He didn't need to prove anything else.
Can you tell something about what is 'backward' about Brazilian football nowadays? Funnily, I've also read recent articles that applauds some aspects of their approach.
I do not know if I can be of course due to my bad English The main are the tactics. Few coaches spend their time honing their team and introducing new concepts. The best example is Tite, who does this with his Corinthians and this is the best team in Brazil. Corinthians is a team where constant moviment... there is defined a tactic can be 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and others. The rest of the teams don't have the same discipline or tactical creativity. The lines (defense, middle and attack) are distant, some forwads/strikes not pressure the opposing defense and there are many teams that think only of defending themselves. Huge gaps in the field, absences in excess. Neymar takes advantage of this, for example... the State Championships and the Campeonato Brasileiro, he owns the game whenever he wants, is unstoppable because the markup is never done well on it. Now, see what he does in a Libertadores against smart teams like Corinthians or Vélez. His game is limited to a few places and chances, as will be when he goes to Europe. The Brazilian technicians are prejudiced. Muricy Ramalho, in 2011, said Guardiola would only be good if it were champion in Brazilian football. The same Muricy they had six months to prepare the Santos to face Barcelona in the Club World Cup and that in the end, Barcelona humbled against a Santos lost in the field. In 2011, Juninho Pernambucano talked about it after a match against Universidad de Chile: ''They practice a football that isn't seen in Brazil, always play compactly. Are compact when they haven't the ball and, when has and to attack, climb their defensive lines and then return all to mark " The directors of clubs and NT make no question of changing that. Look who is the coach of Brazil NT: Scolari, a outdated technician and responsible for lousy campaign Palmeiras in 2012. You know why people trust him? Because he is a leader and for his achievements in 2002. That is, ignore any tactical aspect or his recent work just because he won in 2002. Before Scolari was announced, the name most speculated was to Guardiola and many people criticized the possible coming from him. They said he does not understand Brazilian football. They said that Brazil didn't need it because our 5 titles were commanded by Brazilian coaches To summarize: Because of the limitations and prejudices of Brazilian coaches, most teams play a lagged football compared to other South American leagues and Europe, best in tactics. There is no effort to change that. In addition: - Big salary of major coaches - Calendar bad that harms the clubs - Directors impatient with coaches and the lack of courage to bet on new coaches - Most journalists seen and read in most of the country doesn't have this insight about tactical aspects and how Brazilian football is delayed.
Now, I can't answer about comparing big European leagues vs Brazilian league in the 70s, 80s and 90s. I have the feeling that there was more quality players and differences tactics were less important than today.
Just a small correction here. Romario faked an injury in the SF game because Edmundo was subbed in later in the game and they were enemies. After the SF game Romario said he was fine to play. But Zagallo said the type of injury Romario complained about, he would not be able to recover in time for the final. So he came to the conclusion that Romario was lying. There were probably other clues Zagallo queued into as well.
True, but the problems between Romario and Edmundo were after the World Cup 1998 (bar Café do Gol). I remember Romario once said that Edmundo was the one to show solidarity with Romario after the output in 1998. And they played together in some friendlies for Brazil.
I know the height of their animosity was at Vasco. But I thought at Flamengo towards the end they were already not friendly. At least that's what Zagallo said. I guess nobody knows what the real story is. Zagallo is not the most level headed person himself.
http://www.supervasco.com/noticias/romario-e-edmundo-relacao-de-amor-e-odio-24026.html Zagallo just talks nonsense. He lives by what he did until 1970. Gained enough prestige to talk nonsense any way you want. Lucky man;
He wasn´t a great sucess at Valencia due to his poor behavior (he wanted privileges like no training). On the field, he played 10 games and scored 6 goals in La Liga, not bad. About a return to PSV, I hearded in that times that PSV wants him, but he didn´t want to leave Rio de Janeiro (that´s the reason he played only for Rio´s clubs in Brazil, even receiving good offers for Palmeiras and Sao Paulo, which had better teams in the 90´s). In 1995, it was public that italian clubs wanted him (Juve and Inter), but he preferred to go back to Brazil (Not a good decision). Also Bobby Robson´s tried to get him to Newcastle in 2000 and he refused the negotiation. "After (Sir) Bobby Robson left PSV in 1999, he went to England and invited me to come along. I can’t remember the name of the club, but I remember I preferred to stay in Rio. Rio is the place I feel fine. I think I would have have done just fine in England. Football is football and goal-scoring is needed everywhere" http://www.caughtoffside.com/2011/02/07/romario-turned-down-chance-to-join-newcastle-united/ He only played for Valencia because they offered him amazing values, that´s it. PS: One of Romario biggest fans is the greatest dutch sportman Cruyff: "The best player I have coached? It has to be Romario. You could expect anything from him. His technique was extraordinary," Cruyff was quoted as saying by El Mundo Deportivo. "And he scored goals in every possible manner. Curiously, most of the goals he scored were toe-pokes." http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/88/s...yff-romario-is-the-best-player-i-ever-coached
About Romario's fiasco at WC98: - He did get injured but rather a minor one (should be well recovered 100% at WC98) - However he faked it like severe one and it turned out to be his own burden since Zagalo and Zico took it and decided it on that sense. (later on, post WC98 final lost to France, the fans made some noise and pressure like IF we had a romario then Ronaldo would not have played half fit in that game! Zico said he based on his own experience at WC86 - not fully fit and he tried hard to play but it did not give much positive result.) I had mentioned about Romario's d!ck head and arrogance = his own shortcoming in greatness. IF ... (well) he had a good attitude, He woudl have won WC98 together with Ronaldo easily. And never know, he could have been back in 2002 as won with Ronaldo as well . Thence they would have TIED with Pele in 3 WCs????
As much as I enjoyed the Ro-Ro partnership, I can´t agree. France had such a solid defense in that days. In Tournoi du France´97, Desailly, Thuram and co were able to stop Ronaldo and Romario, I think they would stopped brazilians strikers again in WC98. They also stopped Brazil in a friendly game in 2004 (and in other 2 WCs as everyone knows). I don´t know what happens, but France always knew how to stop Brazil (something that even a bigger NT like Germany never knew). Like you said in another tread, it´s also a mystery how Thuram is underrated nowadays, while italian defenders always have been included in the top 20 players of all times.
While your facts brought up is valid, the SITUATION and SCENARIOS are just not the same in all 3 counters for Brazil team 1- Tournoi de France: That was the very first time Romario and Ronaldo started playing together. After that tournoi, at copa97 and confed97 the two Rs bagged up together 19goals+8ass/11games together producing 25+chances for the team in those 2 event = pretty much READY for WC98 - Also that team was much more defensive minded than the one in 98 (98 team would be better attack support to RoRo with Rivaldo and Sampaio in place of Mauro and Giovani of 97) Ye t in 97 they tied Brazil but not sure how they would stop Ronaldo Romario and Rivaldo (if ALL FIT in 98? 2- WC98 finald and WC06 quarter: France won 3-0 (with 2 setpieces ) against a chikenheadless team (the team were in chaotic mood by Ronaldo's fitness fiasco). France excaped with a (narrowly) win 1goal (gifted to henry by Carlos ignorance ) and both times they did NOT have to stop a Full FIT Ronaldo (a half soul missing at 98 final, and an extra 35lbs player who just returned from surgery without any games fitness in WC06) 3- WC86: They won Brazil by penalty shootout and ONCE again, they won the game with out our best player in top form (Zico unfit and only got in late )
Romario was arrogant and had many problems because of it, but he was right in the ''fight'' with Zagallo. Zagallo never liked Romario. Even Parreira was always friendly. They don't called the best brazilian player between 91 and 93 just for not liking him. ''Luck'' is that Brazil was bad in the Qualifiers and the people demanded the presence of Romario. After 94, Zagallo invented a lot of excuses for not calling Romario. And 13 years later he comes talk that Romario faked injury in 97? How can we believe? Romario never ran away from finals and decisive matches by Brazil NT. There wasn't reason for that. And in 98, Romario could play the decisive matches. At sacrifice as Zico in 86? Likely, but still important, as Zico was on 86 with his presence in the squad. Romario also not played in two Olympics because of Zagallo and Luxemburgo. If Romario were on the team and Ronaldo hadn't his problem, France wouldn't have had a easy match as in final WC98.
It still amazes me that people still think Romario in 98 would have made a huge difference. The problem in 98 was not up front. The main problem was lack of cohesion in the midfield (not to mention a susceptible defense) . Without the midfield, I don't think Romario would have made enough difference in that final. He already wasn't as mobile as he was in 94. And your second point about him faking the injury ... you're probably getting it mixed up with Copa America. Romario didn't fake anything in 98.
No problem, I understand you well. Informative post, thanks. I personally think that Brazil will automatically recover. It is too big as football market, too culturally and socially influential. Numerous factors make it attractive as magnet for new knowledge and insights. Brazil has various pull-factors for importing new knowledge. It is still a strong 'brand' ('joga bonito') which makes sure that their interpretation and ideas of the game will find some resonance across the world, which is a huge advantage. That also makes the intercontinental meetings a bit flawed if you know what I mean because esp. in a game like football (as opposed to basketball with a plethora of 'hard', 'neutral' and 'fixed' rules without much room for interpretation and flexibility) it matters a lot what people see as the core/essence of the game and in this respect Brazil has certainly left their mark over the years - their mark on how the game is interpreted and viewed. I agree that Romario scored well for Brazil after 1995, in 1997-1998 and in 2000-2001. I saw him playing at Tournoi de France and I clearly saw good chemistry and performance. A while ago Robinho was discussed here. Some concluded, and I agree, that he had some very good phases for Brazil national team (most notably in Copa America). He performed better and was more visible as for his clubs (although for Madrid he had sometimes good phases as well). He connected well with some good inter play, and looked overall more vivid and quicker in his decision making, maybe due to cultural reasons and interpersonal understanding with his Brazilian collegues. The same might be true for Romario. In defense of Romario one has to to say that he definitely proved himself in various settings. Some other 'legends' even helped to change the way the game is seen/played by the native citizens (think about Di Stefano, Cruijff, Gullit etc.), but Romario did not pursue this step when he moved abroad. Still, he (sometimes) played well in various countries. Want to make a few qualifiers though about his Brazil NT scoring record, but will do that in a next post (otherwise it becomes too long). Hope you can take it in a good way because what I'm going to say is also a compliment for Brazil.
[This post is about Romario his international record] http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/romario-intlg.html OK, the qualification I want to make is based on two things: The status and quality of the tournament, the timing of the tournament and the quality of opposition. How did Brazil perform and score with other strikers than Romario? I'll start with the 'timing' thing. In the past, the World Cup was situated in such a way that both the South-Americans and Europeans (who each use different calenders as you know) could live with it, that the event was not held in a disadvantageous period of the year. Obviously, this is less of a concern, nor can it be considered, for friendly tournaments. The 'Tournoi de France' in 1997, which was sort of a dress-rehearsal for the 1998 World Cup, was held directly after the European club season (not as preparation for next season). It was held between 3 and 7 June. As information: last matchday of Serie A (#1 UEFA coefficients) was on 1 June 1997. While I have no full insight in all Brazil competitions that year, it is certain that Copa do Brasil ended on 22 May 1997. It is also certain that Brasileiro Serie A (the nation-wide league) started on 5 July 1997. In this respect it is also certain that Romario did not play a lot of matches in 1997. While I don't know exactly whether playing games in early June is beneficial for Europeans or South-Americans, I want to stress that Europe and South-America use different calenders and the timing of the match matters a lot for putting priorities, the fitness level and other things that can influence the outcome of a game. Similarly, the Confederations Cup was held between 12 and 21 December 1997. Right in the middle of the European club season. Various associations and clubs were not happy with this 'break' in the season. While I see the 'Tournoi de France' as a proof for Romario his qualities, I'm less convinced about that Confederations Cup held in Saudi Arabia. European champions Germany declined participation. Replacement Czech Republic came with a altered squad, with various euro96 players not available. The second question is how Brazil performed without Romario (or Ronaldo). If I focus on 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001 only (the years in which Romario played games) then I see that the following strikers scored goals too for Brazil (official FIFA caps only): - Sonny Anderson vs South Korea in 1997 (Ronaldo played) - Denilson vs Ecuador 1997 - Dodo (2 goals) vs Ecuador 1997 - Denilson (2 goals) vs Morocco 1997 - Fabri vs Wales 1997 - Marcelinho vs Yugoslavia 1998 - Elber (3 goals) vs Ecuador 1998 - Elber vs Russia 1998 - Amoroso (2 goals) vs Russia 1998 - Jardel vs Thailand 2000 - Elber vs Wales 2000 - Euller vs USA 2001 - Washington vs Cameroon 2000 (scored also goals against other opponents) That are a few examples (there are more). It begs the following questions: how much of those goals were because Romario was good? How much is explainable by the quality of the back-up strikers? How much was due to the weakness of opponents? Were opponents paid to lose games (as the rumors go)? To what extent were the strikers replaceable? Some of those scoring deputy strikers did not impress in Europe. Personally, I think some is undoubtedly explained by Romario his qualities but maybe it was also because he had a good midfield behind him and because the opponents were not very good. Certain is that also the back-up strikers of Romario (and Ronaldo) managed to find the net.
Good information. Just one addition: in Brazil, don't forget that at that time there was the Torneio Rio-SP (26/02 until 05/04), the Copa do Brasil (Flamengo also reached the final) and the f*** Campeonato Carioca, who was paralyzed in 25/05 and returned in early July. According to information from a site statistics Flamengo, Romário played 33 matches before the Tournoi de France.[/quote] - I think there are two facts. Yes, the level of Brazil's opponents were not as good and Romario had ease in scoring many goals in this period (after 1997 France until 2001) due to weakness of the opponents. But don't think that means that Romario was not good enough for the team. Other major players in the history of Brazil also scored many goals / made fame facing weak opponents When I opened this thread, I thought of bringing statistics on games in which the player didn't participate (its importance to the team), but it would be a statistic fails because the level of the players of Brazil is superior to opponents.The best player makes the difference, but Brazil NT conditions will almost always have a team superior to the others behind. That goes for Pele, Zico, Ronaldo and others. An example: in 2001, Brazil was in danger of not qualifying for the World Cup. In the decisive game, against Venezuela, Luizão scored two goals and Brazil qualified. Looking coolly, was the same as Romario did in 1993 (against Uruguay). But for people, what Romario did is best remembered for being a better player and tension to the game against Uruguay (there is no way to measure it). Another example are the goals from strikers clearly lower. Therefore, the best example to me of how Romario was important for Brazil NT's, are requests that for he were called in 93, 95-96, 99-2000 and revolt that all the people with Scolari by not calling for Romario World Cup 2002 (after Brazil won, the complaints are gone, of course). Or the tournaments that he wasn't present and Brazil lost.
Not sure if things will change anytime soon. In Brazil, due to the popularity of team titles around the world, the people think have the best NT in the world, that Neymar is the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo and we don't need foreign coaches to ''teach the boys to play ball''. Here still bet much on the ''strength of the shirt'', the ''weight that Brazil has''. The famous Joga Bonito. Things only start to actually change with structural changes (calendar and other things) and perhaps with foreign technicians, as Guardiola, Mourinho and so on. However, this has nothing to do with the World Cup, which is a short tournament and playoff format in decisive matches. People just want to know it Cup. What's worse is that directors too. I don't know what happened with Robinho. He had the talent to become one of the best in the world, but has not evolved as it should. I liked him more in NT was in 2005/2006, when he should be holding the World Cup. After we tolerate because of its excellent Copa América and the lack of good options. What about Romario, he had no time in Europe to cause a profound impact. He only played one season in a big league. Because of this, many diminish their value, I can understand. But here in Brazil is different. If you talk to people who understand football notoriously, 90% will say that he is superior to Ronaldo. in Europe, the only people that put on such a high level are those who saw him play in 1993-1994.
He had some impact in his first PSV season though. It was sort of a eye opener. As I indicated, overall I agree that Romario his scoring record for Brazil after 1995 strengthens his case. Just made a few qualifiers. In the 2002WCQ he scored goals against Peru (1 goal), Bolivia (3 goals, 1 PK) and Venezuela (4 goals, 1 PK). All of them came not close to direct qualification. Bolivia came 12 points short; Peru and Venezuela 14 points. Bolivia and Venezuela were also the two sides who conceded the most goals in the 2002 qualification campaign, 33 goals and 44 goals (number three was Chile and conceded 27 goals). Despite this qualifier, he ended high in the 2002WCQ topscorer chart. 1. Hernan Crespo (Argentina) 9 goals (1PK) 1. Agustin Delgado (Ecuador) 9 goals (0PK) 2. Rivaldo (Brazil) 8 goals (0PK) 2. Romario (Brazil) 8 goals (2PK) 3. Julio Baldivieso (Bolivia) 6 goals (0PK) 3. José Cardozo (Paraguay) 6 goals (0PK) Comparison with other WCQ topscorers, since CONMEBOL adopted round-robin format: 1998: Ivan Zamorano (Chile) 12 goals (2PK) 2006: Ronaldo (Brazil) 10 goals (3PK) 2010: Humberto Suazo (Chile) 10 goals (3PK) BTW: in 1998WCQ Marcelo Salas (Chile) scored 11 goals without a single PK. In 2006WCQ Crespo (Argentina) scored 7 goals without a PK, Farfan (Peru) 7 without PK. In 2010WCQ Luis Fabiano (Brazil) scored 9 with 1PK, Botero (Bolivia) scored 8 goals with 1PK. [will say in next post something about Robinho and adaptation]