Julio César Romero Insfrán (born 28 August 1960), also known as 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

as one of the

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list compiled by Brazilian professional footballer Pelé featuring his choices of the "greatest living footballers" at the time of its release. The list was unveiled on 4 March 2004 during a gala ceremony at the Natural Histor ...

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 ...

, 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 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 when i ...

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

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

. In the same year, Romero played a key role in Paraguay's win in the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

, 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 Indepen ...

where he played alongside such greats as the Brazilian and German World Cup winning captains of 1970 and 1974 Carlos Alberto and

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

. 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 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 called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

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 known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

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 Sportivo Luqueño 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 second division of the Chilean football league. Their home games are play ...

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

International goals

Honours

New York Cosmos * NASL:

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

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 The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

: 1984, 1985 Barcelona *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1988–89 Puebla * Primera División: 1989–90 * Copa Mexico: 1989–90 Olimpia Asunción * Torneo República: 1992 Paraguay *

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 song ...

Individual *

South American Footballer of the Year The Rey de América ("King 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 year. The award was con ...

: 1985; Silver Award: 1979 * 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 men's footballers Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Paraguay men's under-20 international footballers Paraguay men's international footballers FIFA 100 Men's 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 Club Cerro Corá footballers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players New York Cosmos (1970–1985) players Liga MX players Club Puebla players 1986 FIFA World Cup players Deportes La Serena footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's 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 Footballers from Luque 1979 Copa América players 1987 Copa América players South American Footballer of the Year winners Copa América–winning players