Romario, the living legend

324 goals [in 410 games] for Vasco da Gama (Brazil)
204 goals [in 240 games] for Flamengo (Brazil)
165 goals [in 167 games] for PSV Eindhoven (Holland)
71 goals [in 85 games] for the Selecao (Brazil)
53 goals [in 84 games] for Barcelona FC (Spain)
48 goals [in 77 games] for Fluminense (Brazil)
22 goals [in 29 games] for Miami (USA)
14 goals [in 21 games] for Valencia (Spain)
1 goal [in 4 games] for Adelaide (Australia)
+ Plus several goals with other clubs and competitions, the "Baixinho" (Shorty) has completed scoring 1000 goals. A feat only reached by about 3 people I believe (Including Pele' with his 1200+ goals).

Romario has always been an amazing player able to convert any half-chance in a split-second and the fact that he's made it to 41 years of age and maintain the ability to play at a professional level is amazing!

What's even more amazing is when you consider his lifestyle, totally the opposite of how a player should live their professional life! He swapped day for night, preferring to party till all hours. He's never been one for much training, something that's always got him in trouble with most coaches. Jumped from club to club and back again when he felt like it.

There's no other striker that has been so successful towards the end of their career! The stats show that up until the age of 30, Romario scored 432 goals with a ratio of 0.77 per game. After 30 he scored 491 goals at a rate of 0.86 per game! Those sorts of ratios are phenomenal for even the best strikers out their of any age! Usually a ratio of 0.5 or more per game will get you noticed by the major clubs.

At 40 he scored 41 goals in 50 games and at 41 years old he scored 13 in 13 games to reach 1000 on the 20th of May 2007 with Vasco. Unbelievable stuff really! He's obviously altered his style a lot over the years to continue to score at such a rate. He lost the incredible pace and acceleration and replaced them with other qualities such as positioning and finishing.

Here's some footage of the 1000th goal...


And some more footage here, a great round up of 20 great Romario goals!