Player Focus: Rômulo's Remarkable Rise to Azzurri Call-Up

Chapecó isn’t too far from the Paraguayan border. And so when Rômulo wasn’t playing for the town’s club, he would make the crossing. “I bought perfumes, creams and other things,” he revealed to La Gazzetta dello Sport, “then I sold them again in Brazil where everything costs more. I earned more from that than I did football.” 

Turning professional was a struggle for him. Rômulo had left home at 13 to attend an academy in Caxias, 130km away from home. It was fairly spartan. “The beds weren’t great,” Rômulo recalled. “At times, the team went without food.” And on the few occasions that they had a day off he couldn’t go home. It was too far and anyway “I didn’t have the €10 for the journey.” Still he told himself it would all be worthwhile. Rômulo was working towards realising his dream after all. But his coaches tried to crush it. They didn’t think he had what it takes to make it. And so at 17, he was let go.

At that stage Rômulo could have been consumed by self-doubt. He would have been forgiven for walking away from the game. But he didn’t. Not even when he turned 20 and was still “without a team, without an agent, without anything” did Rômulo abandon it. He trained in the streets a little like Rocky Balboa. His hopes were raised only to be dashed. “Metropolitano [a small club in Blumenau] signed me but I only played four or five games.” 

Rômulo wasn’t desperate but he was willing play for anyone and anywhere if it meant that there was the prospect of a contract at the end of a game. He became an odd-jobs man, a jack of all trades. “At Chapecoense I did everything. I even played centre-back and striker.” Rômulo couldn’t have known it then, but the versatility he had to develop in order just to get a chance in the industry would make him the kind of all-rounder that coaches value, particularly in Italy. 

Spotted by Fiorentina’s former director of sport Pantaleo Corvino, he was brought over to Serie A three years ago. His first season was arguably the most traumatic at the club since their return to the top flight back in 2004-05 when they almost went down. It led the owners to embark on root and branch change. Corvino was replaced by Daniele Prade, who appointed Vincenzo Montella and signed David Pizarro, Borja Valero and Alberto Aquilani. 

Getting a game in that midfield was never going to be easy for Rômulo. He filled in here. He filled in there. Then last summer Montella pulled him to one side. “He told me that I would play little and advised me to leave. Chievo, Samp and Genoa wanted me but I liked Hellas Verona.”

So Rômulo followed Luca Toni to the Bentegodi. Together with another signing Juan Iturbe, they have contributed to make Hellas’ first season back in Serie A in 12 years a truly memorable one. For a promoted side to not just survive but be in the running for a Europa League place right until the final day campaign is of great credit to the recruitment of their director of sport Sean Sogliano and coach Andrea Mandorlini. 

“He shouts a lot. More than anyone,” Rômulo said of his boss. “but he is wonderful. I have never seen a coach so close to the team. During games I say to him: ‘Mister we have to play some possession football’. He replies: ‘Leave that to the others, bomb on and score a goal.” Montella had recommended he do the same. “I used to always go and pick the ball up from our centre-backs. He explained that I had to get into the box.” Rômulo has done that to good effect this season. He has found the back of the net 6 times. Where he stands out, however, is in his delivery.

A decent set-piece taker, he leads the team in crossing with 1.5 per game. In addition to swinging it in he also neatly jabs the ball through to his striker or midfield runners. His 1.7 key passes per game is a Hellas high. He has created 54 chances this season and has eight assists. So if you’re wondering how Toni has smashed Gianni Bui and Domenico Penzo’s single campaign goalscoring records at Hellas, it owes a lot to Rômulo. “Mamma mia! Think how many I’d have if he hadn’t missed all those chances,” he jokes. 

Figuring in the top 20 in La Gazzetta dello Sport’s player ratings for the season, there are reports of interest in Rômulo from Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. The high regard in which he is held can be explained by the work ethic that has defined his career. It’s said that Rômulo does enough running for three players. No one tackled more for Hellas this season [he averaged 2.5 per game]. And he will do a job for you. Rômulo has played as a full-back, central midfielder and a winger this season. That flexibility and the knowledge that he has dual citizenship has attracted Italy coach Cesare Prandelli. 

Called up for a series of physical tests at Coverciano in April, Rômulo was included in his provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup this week. “He can cover lots of different roles,” Prandelli argued. “He has running, technique and continuity of performance, a very interesting player.” Think of him as performing the kind of selfless duty Emanuele Giaccherini did for Italy at the Confederations Cup. If you need to change formation, but have a problem position, he’ll solve it for you. 

“We’re happy for Rômulo’s selection to the national team,” Mandorlini laughed. “We celebrated together. We sang him the anthem.” Rômulo insists he knows it. He has given journalists a brief rendition. His story is a remarkable one. Six years on from selling fragrances and moisturisers just to get by, Rômulo could play in a World Cup. That success must smell particularly sweet.

Do you think Rômulo should make the final cut in Italy's 23-man squad for the World Cup? Let us know in the comments below