Romario and his shady math

One of the few things I recalled from informal Portuguese classes many years ago was the phrase papo cabeza (misspelled?) which is a not-so-diplomatic way of calling someone daft or stupid. Unfortunately, that phrase is apt for forty-year-old Brazilian striker Romario’s claim that he is two goals away from marking 1000 career goals.

Romario has alleged that he has scored nearly 1000 “first-class goals” in a career that has spanned nearly twenty-five years. However, different sources have disputed Romario by observing that his goal tally is inaccurate and way off the mark. An investigation by soccer magazine Placar says that there are 101 “questionable goals” to Romario’s count, while soccer blog The Offside notes that Romario has only marked 749 goals “in full internationals and competitive club games”.

Still, Romario stands by his goal count by claiming that “these numbers are not mine. The counting was done by professionals.” The only soccer player in history to have marked over 1000 official goals is the legendary Pele and he has disputed Romario’s claim.

Romario papo cabeza, indeed.

Links- New York University, Wikipedia, BBC News, ESPN Soccernet, The Offside, CNN, Edmonton Sun

Image- El Porvenir