The Romario deal.
By Peter Badel (Sunday Telegraph).[/color]
The man who played a decisive role in signing the legendary Romario has spoken of the extraordinary two-month pursuit that delivered the Godfather of Goals to the A-League.
Mel Patzwald, a board member of Adelaide United, traversed more than 35,000km across three continents, withstood a hurricane, sent 60 emails and honed his Spanish language skills as part of his mission to snare the Brazilian icon.
Romario, 40, made his A-League debut last night for Adelaide against the Mariners. The striker will receive $257,000 for a four-match guest stint, with television network SporTV securing exclusive rights to beam his appearances to 190 million Brazilians.
Patzwald, a travel agency owner who spent 13 hours selling Romario the A-League vision, celebrated the deal over a South Australian wine in a lavish Sao Paulo restaurant.
"A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this. I'm still pinching myself he's here,'' said Patzwald, who first threw up Romario's name as a possible recruit at a board meeting in August.
"Make no mistake, this man is a legend. The 48 hours in Sao Paulo was surreal - it was like hanging around with God. At the restaurant where we did the deal, you need six weeks' notice to get a table. When we mentioned Romario was coming, they said, 'How soon can you get here?'
"This is by a country mile the biggest name to join the A-League. Forget Dwight Yorke or Benito Carbone, their achievements don't come close to Romario's.''
And while pessimists may scoff at the figures on Romario's birth certificate, you can't dispute his glittering footballing resume. The South American has been crowned FIFA player of the year. In 1994, he finished leading scorer as he piloted Brazil to World Cup success. With 14 more strikes, he can join Pele as the only men to have scored 1000 goals.
But it hasn't taken an endless stream of fringe benefits to lure him to Adelaide. A beachfront apartment in Glenelg, a new BMW and two mountain bikes were enough to satisfy his urge to sample life Down Under.
"The big thing I pushed was the lifestyle angle. He said he liked the beach,'' Patzwald revealed. "To be honest, this is the best money we've ever spent.''
Patzwald met Romario for the first time in Miami's Intercontinental Hotel with the city on hurricane alert. Residents began clearing out. Hotel staff began sandbagging the perimeter of the Intercontinental. But Patzwald remained inside, determined to get his man.
For two hours, the wheeler and dealer in Romario played hardball. Then talk turned to family, their hardships, and the pair found a common bond.
"I have an autistic son and Romario told me he had a young daughter with Down syndrome,'' Patzwald said. "We connected. When I left that day, I didn't have his signature but I knew we had a gentleman's agreement.
"Other clubs pitched and offered more money, but he liked the Adelaide concept and he signed with us.''
Football in Adelaide suddenly has more tempo. At Romario's first training run, team-mate Fernando, a fellow Brazilian, ran himself into the ground, desperate to catch the eye of Shorty.
And the fans are flocking. Special Romario packages - a one-off payment of $62 guarantees a seat at each of his three home games - have already attracted more than 8000 eager takers. "The players adore him. They can't believe he's here,'' Patzwald said.
"As a bloke, he's a bit of a clown. With his mates, he likes being the class clown. He likes to have everyone laughing. But there's no bull with him. If he doesn't like something, he'll tell you.''
Upon arriving in Australia, Romario said: "I am fit and ready to go. I am here to do my best. It's not all about goals, although of course I plan to score as many as I possibly can.''
And Patzwald has a message for the critics - beneath the sprouting grey hair, the genius in Romario de Souza Faria still exists. "People think we've signed an old man but he's in good shape. He likes a good time, but he's very professional,'' he said.
"He topped the goalscoring in Brazil's first division at the age of 39. That's how good this guy is.''
