Sounders: Miami FC features Brazil's Romario

When Miami FC meets the Seattle Sounders tonight, fans will get a rare glimpse of eccentric Brazilian star Romario, one of the greatest soccer players of all-time.

At age 40, Romario has slowed down on and off the field.

But Romario, once known as an all-night partier, hasn't slowed down in his chase to become the world's all-time leading goal scorer. His style has changed, but he's still getting results.

"At this age, he's not as explosive as he was and he's not as fast, so it's positioning," said Luiz Muzzi, Miami FC general manager, in a telephone interview. "He knows where he needs to be to score goals. He's in the right place when the ball comes.

"He's just lethal inside the box. You give him two millimeters and he scores. He's one of the best finishers and scorers in the history of the game."

The forward led Brazil to victory in the World Cup in 1994 as the tournament's outstanding player. Romario has scored 974 career goals and needs 27 to pass Pelé as the world leader entering tonight's United Soccer Leagues (USL) First Division match at 7 at Qwest Field.

"This game is my life," said the Portuguese-speaking Romario, responding through an interpreter and relayed via a Sounders e-mail. "It has given me everything I have."

The 5-foot-6 scoring dynamo, nicknamed "Baixinho" (meaning "Shorty"), has wowed fans but clashed with coaches and players. He despises practice.

Romario once slapped a teammate over a disagreement. He dreamed of fielding a full soccer team of his own 11 children and even froze his sperm with that in mind before getting a vasectomy.

Romario doesn't play in every road match for Miami FC. Seattle fans are lucky to get to see him because he won't play in Portland on Sunday.

"The club wants him to play at home," said Gerardo Villa, a spokesman for Miami FC. "That's the priority for him.

"We have four matches in six days. That's a lot of games for anybody even if you're not 40. He's got the final call. If he feels he can go, the coach gives him the priority."

Romario, whose signing was considered the biggest coup in the USL's 20-year history, understands his controversial ways aren't for everybody.

"I don't like giving advice," he said. "I think that, unfortunately, I'm not a very good role model."

Romario's love of Miami and its nightlife and a friendship with Miami FC president Julio Mariz brought him to the expansion team in 2006. Mariz also runs Brazilian-based Traffic Sports, which put on Romario's farewell games from Brazil's national team.

"Miami FC is the perfect fit for me," said Romario, whose nine goals rank second in the division to the Sounders' Cam Weaver, with 10. "It feels like home."

Soccer was Romario's ticket out of a shantytown on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

"Soccer saved me," Romario said in an April 21 story in the Miami Herald.

Romario de Souza Faria has six children with two wives. But the birth of his sixth child, Ivy, more than a year ago, altered his lifestyle. Ivy has Down's syndrome.

"He's changed a lot with the birth of his daughter," Muzzi said. "He still goes out, but he's not pulling all-nighters like he used to. He's much more of a family person."

Notes

• Miami FC midfielder Zinho, 38, a teammate of Romario's on Brazil's World Cup-winning team in 1994, also is scheduled to play against Seattle.

• Romario was scheduled to fly to Seattle late Friday after the rest of the team arrived.

• Seattle (4-7-4, 16 points) is tied for seventh in the USL First Division standings, right behind Miami FC (4-3-5, 17 points).