ROM COM

ROMARIO’s life off the pitch has been more colourful than his life was on it since he hung up his boots in 2009.

The legendary Brazil striker, 59, who claims to have scored over one thousand career goals, is reportedly dating a student 30 years his junior.

The woman in question, Alicya Gomes, reportedly met him during last year’s municipal elections in Brazil, where Romario works in politics.

They were first snapped together on a night out at Rock in Rio last October, when Romario took Alicya to watch Mariah Carey.

World Cup winner Romario also has six children, including one born from an extra-matrimonial affair with an actress while he was still with his second wife Daniele Favato.

SunSport delves into the former Barcelona star’s mad world.

‘Sex mad’

In 2018, Romario was branded ‘sex mad’ in his homeland.

The reasoning; because he told Gabriel Jesus to have “lots of sex” to help him score goals before heading to the World Cup that year.

Then, in 2022 he claimed his sex life was always “f***ing good” and enjoyed wild romps with his wife before matches.

“Sometimes on match day I would stay at home, away from the rest of the team. If I’d wake up horny, I’d have sex with my wife and then go to the game,” he wrote in a piece for the Players’ Tribune.

Even his former team-mates were privy to his sexcapades.

Barça icon Hristo Stoichkov once exclaimed: “Romario was only interested in two things: football and f***ing.

“Romario’s lifestyle, his constant coming and going caused problems with his wife.”

Romario has been married three times.

He divorced first wife Monica Santoro in 1995 after admitting countless affairs.

A year later, the 5ft 6in goal poacher married Brazilian beauty Danielle Favatto.

But, that didn’t stop him from straying and five years later they split in 2001.

Romario last walked down the aisle with model Isabelle Bittencourt in 2002, then divorced her 12 years later.

To satisfy his libido, he has since dated a string of young women.

Last year, he was linked to pretty 34-year-old brunette Maria Geusiane Santos.

They met during a night out in Rio de Janeiro and romance blossomed.

Epic career

Aside from his extra-curricular activities away from football, on the pitch Romario was a master goalscorer.

Before Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi provided epic numbers of goals, he was knocking them in for fun.

According to official records, he scored 690 goals in 893 games in club football.

In 2007, while in mid-30s, he was still one of Brazil’s most prolific marksman in the top-flight – scoring 15 times for Vasco de Gama in just 19 games in all competitions.

He briefly came out of retirement in 2024 at the age of 58 to play for America Football Club in Rio de Janeiro, alongside his son Romarinho in Brazil’s second tier.

In Europe, he’s fondly remembered by PSV fans where he boasted a record of 128 goals in 149 matches.

While despite an acrimonious falling out with Johan Cruyff, his memorable hat-trick in a 5-0 demolition of rivals Real Madrid for Barcelona is still fondly remembered by Catalan fans.

On the international stage, Romario managed 55 goals in 70 games – most memorably coming alive at the 1994 World Cup, where he helped Brazil lift the trophy in the USA with five goals in the tournament.

Still, there’s a debate to be had about the number of goals he has scored.

His research team claim he scored his 1,000th goal for Vasco, a penalty kick against Sport Recife.

Amusingly, the game was stopped for 20 minutes to allow celebrations from the fans. − Sun.