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For the Brazilian footballer, see Romero Mendonça Sobrinho.

Julio César Romero "Romerito" (born August 28, 1960 in Luque, Paraguay) was a Paraguayan football midfielder considered among the best players in Paraguayan football history. He was the only Paraguayan footballer named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Career

Romero started his career at local club Sportivo Luqueño in 1977, by 1979 Romerito's consistent performances had earned him a place in the Paraguay national football 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, Romerito played the Copa América which was eventually won by Paraguay.

In 1980 he joined now defunct New York Cosmos where he played alongside such greats as Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer.

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.

After a short spell with FC Barcelona in Spain 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 La Serena in Chile.

During his career, he scored more than 400 goals.

Titles

Season	Team	Title
1979	Paraguay	Copa América
1980	New York Cosmos	NASL Champion
1982	New York Cosmos	NASL Champion
1984	Fluminense	Brazilian Championship
1984	Fluminense	Campeonato Carioca
1985	Fluminense	Campeonato Carioca
1992	Olimpia	Torneo República

Awards

• South American Footballer of the Year in 1985
• Paraguayan 1st Division topscorer in 1990
• FIFA top 125 greatest living footballers

Facts

• Romero is the equal 3rd highest goalscorer in the history of the Paraguay national team with 13 goals.
• Romerito is a politician for the Colorado Party in his native city of Luque and works as a city counselor.^[1]
• In September 2006 Romerito 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. ^[2]

References

External links

• (Spanish) Futbol Factory profile (Archived)
• Romerito's debut as a rock singer (video)
• Midfield Dynamo's 10 Heroes of the Copa América Romerito listed in the top 10

Paraguay squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Fernández • 2 Torales • 3 Zabala • 4 Schettina • 5 Delgado • 6 Nunes • 7 Ferreira • 8 Romero • 9 Cabañas • 10 Cañete • 11 Mendoza • 12 Battaglia • 13 Cáceres • 14 Caballero • 15 Cabral • 16 Guasch • 17 Alcaraz • 18 Isasi • 19 Chilavert • 20 Hicks • 21 Alonso • 22 Coronel • Coach: Ré