Julio César Romero Insfrán (born 28 August 1960), nicknamed ''Romerito'', is a Paraguayan former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, considered among the greatest players in Paraguayan football history. He is the only Paraguayan named by Pelé as one of the

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fou ...

in March 2004.

Career

Born in

Luque Luque () is a city in Central Department of Paraguay, part of the Gran Asunción metropolitan area. Both 1635 and 1750 have been recorded as dates of its founding. It was temporarily the capital of Paraguay in 1868 during the Paraguayan War b ...

, Paraguay, Romero started his career at local club

Sportivo Luqueño Club Sportivo Luqueño is a Paraguayan football club, based in the city of Luque on the outskirts of the capital Asunción. The club has won two Paraguayan championships. History The club was founded in 1921 when three teams from the city of L ...

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 The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

and was considered one of the best players of the tournament along with

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

. 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 New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

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. Romero moved to Brazil to play for

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

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 The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

finals after a 28-year hiatus. At the finals in Mexico, he scored against Iraq and the host nation in the first round. After a short spell with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

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 Club Cerro Corá, was a Paraguayan football club based in the city of Asunción (Paraguay). The club was founded March 1, 1925 and played in the Primera División B Metropolitana, the third division of Paraguayan football. Their home games were p ...

and

in Paraguay and

Deportes La Serena Club de Deportes La Serena S.A.D.P., is a Chilean football club based in the city of La Serena, Coquimbo Region. The club was founded 9 December 1955 and plays in the first division of the Chilean football league. Their home games are played ...

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

Honours

New York Cosmos * NASL: 1980, 1982 Fluminense * Série A:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

* Campeonato Carioca: 1984, 1985 Barcelona *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

: 1988–89 Puebla * Primera División: 1989–90 * Copa Mexico: 1989–90 Olimpia Asunción *

Torneo República The Torneo República (''Republic Tournament'') is a defunct official football tournament from Paraguay. The competition was held at the beginning of the year and its purpose was to integrate teams from the Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: ...

: 1992 Paraguay * Copa América:

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

Individual *

South American Footballer of the Year The Rey del Fútbol de América ("King of Football of America"), often referred to as the South American Footballer of the Year, is an annual association football award presented to the best footballer in South America over the previous calendar ...

: 1985 * 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. *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.Marca article
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References

External links

* *
Romero's debut as a rock singer (video)

Romero listed in the top 10

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romerito Paraguayan footballers Paraguayan expatriate footballers Paraguay under-20 international footballers Paraguay international footballers FIFA 100 Association football midfielders Sportivo Luqueño players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Fluminense FC players La Liga players FC Barcelona players Paraguayan Primera División players Club Olimpia footballers Cerro Corá footballers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players New York Cosmos players Liga MX players Club Puebla players 1986 FIFA World Cup players Deportes La Serena footballers Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate soccer players in the United States Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in the United States 1960 births Living people Sportspeople from Luque 1979 Copa América players 1987 Copa América players South American Footballer of the Year winners Copa América-winning players