Antonio Rocco Romeo (born March 25, 2000) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Vancouver FC.

Early life

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Romeo began playing youth soccer with Bolton Wanderers SC, before moving on to the Woodbridge Strikers.

Club career

In 2014, Romeo joined the Toronto FC youth system. He played 17 games for

Toronto FC III Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

in League1 Ontario during the 2016 season and 15 games during the 2017 season, scoring once against

Toronto Skillz FC Toronto Skillz FC is a Canadian semi-professional association football, soccer club based in the Scarborough, Toronto, Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario. The club was founded in 2008 and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario ...

. On September 4, 2016, Romeo made his debut for Toronto FC II, the reserve team of Toronto FC, in the United Soccer League against Charlotte Independence. He came on as a 62nd minute substitute for Clément Simonin as Toronto FC II lost 5–1. On September 15, 2017, Romeo signed his first professional contract, joining Toronto FC II on a permanent basis. On January 31, 2019,

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991 the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the forma ...

club HB Køge announced that they had signed Romeo on a loan deal until June 30. On January 21, 2020, Romeo signed a first-team MLS deal with Toronto FC. On August 13, HB Køge announced Romeo had returned to the club once again on loan. He scored his first goal for Køge on October 6 in a cup match against Bispebjerg BK, also picking up a red card later in the same match. On July 30, 2021, he was loaned to Valour FC of the Canadian Premier League. The next day he made his debut for Valour against FC Edmonton. In the next match on August 4, he scored his first goal for Valour against Pacific FC. Upon completion of the 2021 season, Romeo's option for the 2022 season was not picked up by Toronto, making him a free agent. In February 2022, Romeo signed with Valour FC on a permanent deal. Following the expiration of his contract with Valour, on January 16, 2023, Romeo joined newly-constituted side Vancouver FC on a free transfer.

International career

Romeo has represented Canada at the

2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2017 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship (18th edition if all eras included), the men's under-17 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in Panama between 21 ...

. On October 24, 2018, he was named to the Canadian U20 squad for the

2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (27th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted at Bradenton, Florida, ...

. Romeo was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organised by CONCACAF to determine which men's ...

on February 26, 2020, however, the tournament was soon after postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Career statistics

Honours

;Toronto FC III * League1 Ontario Second Team All Star:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

Toronto FC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romeo, Rocco 2000 births Living people Men's association football defenders Canadian soccer players Soccer players from Toronto Homegrown Players (MLS) Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Toronto FC II players Toronto FC players HB Køge players Valour FC players Vancouver FC players Danish 1st Division players League1 Ontario players USL Championship players Canadian Premier League players Canada men's youth international soccer players