Romerito

Romerito
Personal information
Full name	Julio César Romero Insfrán
Date of birth	28 August 1960 (age 64)
Place of birth	Luque, Paraguay
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team
1977–1979	Sportivo Luqueño
1980–1983	New York Cosmos
1983–1988	Fluminense
1989	Barcelona
1989–1990	Puebla
1990–1991	Sportivo Luqueño
1992	Olimpia Asunción
1993–1994	Sportivo Luqueño
1995	Deportes La Serena
1995	Club Cerro Corá
1996–1998	Sportivo Luqueño
Total
International career
1979–1990	Paraguay
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Julio César Romero Insfrán (born 28 August 1960), also known as Romerito, is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, considered among the greatest players in Paraguayan football history. He is the only Paraguayan named by Pelé as one of the FIFA 100 in March 2004.^[1]^[2]

Career

Born in Luque, Paraguay, Romero started his career at local club Sportivo Luqueño in 1977, by 1979 Romero's consistent performances had earned him a place in the Paraguay national team that played in the FIFA World Youth Championship and was considered one of the best players of the tournament along with Diego Maradona. In the same year, Romero played a key role in Paraguay's win in the Copa América, scoring three goals.

In 1980, he joined now defunct New York Cosmos where he played alongside such greats as the Brazilian and German World Cup winning captains of 1970 and 1974 Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer. In the 1980 Soccer Bowl he scored the game-winning goal of a 3–0 victory over Ft. Lauderdale.^[3]

Romero moved to Brazil to play for Fluminense where he was selected as the South American Footballer of the Year in 1985. He became a fan favorite after leading the team to a Campeonato Brasileiro.

In 1986, he was a key player in helping the Paraguay national team return to the FIFA World Cup finals after a 28-year hiatus.^[4]^[5] At the finals in Mexico, he scored against Iraq and the host nation in the first round.

After a short spell with FC Barcelona in Spain^[6] and a stint in Mexico with Puebla F.C. Romero returned to South America where he played out his career with Olimpia, Club Cerro Corá and Sportivo Luqueño in Paraguay and Deportes La Serena in Chile.

During his career, he scored a little more than 400 goals.

Honours

New York Cosmos

NASL: 1980, 1982

Fluminense

Série A: 1984
Campeonato Carioca: 1984, 1985

Barcelona

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1988–89^[7]

Puebla

Olimpia Asunción

Torneo República: 1992

Paraguay

Copa América: 1979

Individual

South American Footballer of the Year: 1985;^[8] Silver Award: 1979^[9]
Paraguayan First Division top scorer: 1990
FIFA top 125 greatest living footballers: 2004

Facts

Romero is the equal 3rd highest goalscorer in the history of the Paraguay national team with 13 goals.
Romero is a politician for the Colorado Party in his native city of Luque and works as a city counselor.^[10]
In September 2006 Romero made his debut as a rock singer in the Paraguayan music festival called "Pilsen Rock". He took the stage as a guest of the popular local band Revolber and sang the opening words of the song "Siete hermanos, 1 misil" in front of a crowd of 40,000.^[11]