Football: Tearful Romario is forced out

ROMARIO yesterday became the latest high-profile performer to find that, like Paul Gascoigne, he will be watching the World Cup from the sidelines and not participating on the pitch in the planet's biggest sporting occasion.

Mario Zagallo, the Brazil coach, excluded Romario from his World Cup squad yesterday - and the temperamental striker who did so much to help his country win the tournament in 1994 broke down and wept as he faced the Brazilian media.

The Flamengo forward's place was taken by the defensive midfielder Emerson Ferreira of Bayer Leverkusen in a move that caused widespread amazement back home.

Romario was Brazil's hero at USA 94, when he scored five goals, and he had dreamed that his partnership with Ronaldo would help him achieve a repeat performance in France. Instead, a nagging calf muscle injury has forced the 32-year-old out of what would surely have been his last World Cup.

Romario, who on Sunday had said he would be fit to face Scotland in the opening match of the finals a week today, broke down twice during his press conference as he described how upset he was.

"This is very sad for me, a big disappointment," he said. "This is a very difficult moment in my life. From now on, I will start to give value to other things," he said, before burying his face in his hands.

"I just want to thank the national team for having given me the chance to become what I am." At that point, Romario broke down for a third time and was led away to a standing ovation from the press.

Prior to Romario's emotional farewell, the team doctor, Lidio Toledo, had explained that a scan taken on Monday had shown that Romario still had an injury to his right calf muscle. "This type of injury can take 10 or 15 days or even a month to get better," he said.

Zagallo said Romario had been given longer to prove his fitness than other players would have been. "This was a special case because of his status and his importance to the team," the coach said.

"We waited until the last possible moment. We gave him our full backing. We did the best we could.

"It wasn't us who dropped Romario. It was the scan," the veteran coach added. "This is sad, it is part of life, it is part of our reality. You have to make decisions and we have made one."

Zagallo said that Emerson was chosen because he already had five other players capable of playing in attack - even though there are now only three recognised strikers in his squad. Bebeto or Edmundo are likely to partner Ronaldo up front against Scotland but, as the coach pointed out, the midfielders Rivaldo and Denilson are both capable of moving into attack.

"We are short of players who can play in front of the defence," Zagallo added after a training session in Ozoir-la-Ferriere, France. "We have made the right decision. I was not going to pick another big-name player just to make people happy. I don't like making other people happy. I like to make myself happy. Romario has gone - but in 1962 we lost Pele and we still won."

Ronaldo, whom Romario would have partnered in attack, had the last word. "We had plans for this World Cup - but now they won't happen," the Internazionale striker said.

As well as the Scots, Brazil must face Norway in the first round in France. The Norwegian coach, Egil Olsen, was yesterday reported as saying that the world champions might be knocked out in the group stage - and he added that England are a "sorry sight".

In a friendly in Oslo a year ago, Olsen's team beat Brazil 4-2. "Both Scotland and Morocco [the other team in the group] could in a lucky moment take a point from Brazil," he told a Norwegian newspaper. "It's not unthinkable that Brazil could be knocked out in the first round, even though I don't think that will happen."

Olsen visited Casablanca at the weekend and saw Morocco draw 2-2 with France and England draw 0-0 with Belgium in the King Hassan Cup. He said Morocco and France were good teams and Belgium moderately good. "But England were a sorry sight and clearly the least aggressive in attack," he added.