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Mission Romário, day 5Copacabana, Tuesday 21 March, 23:30 pmCOPACABANA - Romário has been given a new nickname: the ‘Bin Laden of Brazil’. He vanished a week ago and nobody seems to know where he is. The last pictures were taken when he was controversially taken off during the Fluminense game. We see Romário leave the pitch, disappointed and upset, with a face like thunder, ignoring his coach. The pictures have been shown on Brazilian TV stations over and over again, invariably followed by analyses and speculations. Nobody seems to know what is going on in the mind of the 40-year-old striker. It is amazing that Romário is so highly respected. He himself determines whether he trains or plays and how long he plays. He can stay away for one week without giving account and yet the President backs him completely. No Dutch player would ever be allowed to play tricks like that. The only person that has publicly criticized him is his coach Renato Gaúcho. “Romário is not a small child any longer”, he has once intimated. "He should understand that there are rules and that he must join his team mates for training.” These are strong statements and that’s exactly what Gaúcho needs to be taken seriously by his players. A coach that dances attendance upon just one player will not be appreciated by the other players of the squad. It is questionable whether Gaúcho also sings that manful tone in the presence of Romário.In essence Romário simply does not accept being taken off or not being included in the starting line-up. He is far too self-willed and stubborn. Insiders feel there are two options: Romário will either stay with Vasco and takes charge of the club or retire from professional football. It is generally said that if he were to make a move to Fluminense or Miami, he would never be granted the privileges he wishes. His pride will prevail over his ambition to score a landmark one thousand goals. Again we have attempted to call Romário, with the help of several people in his surroundings. In vain, just like we had already expected. We have made a trip to the Vasco da Gama Stadium. We have actually made the trip twice: in the morning and in the evening, but the hope to meet him proved to be vain. While we took a ride through Rio, we saw the famous statue of Christ blessing the city with open arms, high in the mountains and the long Copacabana beach. We realized that this confounded Romário must be somewhere in this great city, playing with his daughter in a careless manner or playing a nice game of football on a deserted beach or stubbornly pacing up and down, pondering over whether to continue his career. Nobody knows.PSV Media are in Rio de Janeiro on the look-out for something Romário. To see him, among other things, about his mission to score one thousand goals. To taste the atmosphere and to see him in action one more time. Because he is Romário de Souza Faria is, the hero of PSV. We will publish entries on PSV.nl on this trip every day until next Thursday. Text: Koen van Santvoord / Pictures: Maarten Noordijk.
