[Ｕ20] Sergio Romero--Argentina's privileged spectator
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Argentina's privileged spectator
(FIFA.com) Thursday 5 July 2007
Comfortably in control of their match with Panama after a
first-half goal blitz, the Argentina players started to
knock the ball around, switching play from one side of the
pitch to another. The captivated crowd showed their
appreciation, greeting each carefully weighted pass with
shouts of "Ole". The South Americans were letting their
hair down while the spectators went wild. All of them that
is, except one. Looking on intently from the goalmouth was
the Albicelestes' giant goalkeeper Sergio Romero. Focused
on the job at hand after keeping his goal intact with a
string of fine saves, the towering custodian is nevertheless
appreciative of his side's beguiling play, as FIFA.com
discovers.
"It's just great to watch the boys up front sometimes. You
even feel like applauding them," he says in the wake of his
team's 6-0 demolition of the Canaleros. "It's great that
we're playing this well because it gives the guys at the
back confidence, and vice versa. And here was me thinking
I was going to have a quiet day with the press,"
he chuckles.
Joking apart, Romero knows full well his timely interventions
did not go unnoticed despite the thrilling performance of his
team-mates. "Panama created a lot of chances at the start of
the game. But then we scored four in a short space of time
and that made things a lot easier for us. It was a good win
as it helps bring the team even closer together and increase
our confidence," says the keeper, who stands an imposing
1.91m tall.
Speaking of confidence, one man who has complete faith in
the young shot-stopper is Argentina coach Hugo Tocalli,
once a member of the goalkeeping union himself. "Romero is
a very solid keeper, not showy at all, and I feel he'll go
on to great things in the future. If he can hold a place
down with his club, I'm sure we'll be seeing him in the
full Argentina team."
A family of giants
Born in Misiones, a province where basketball is more popular
than football, Romero is the youngest and, amazing though it
may seem, the shortest of four brothers. "I'm the baby of the
family in every respect. My other brothers are 2.08 metres,
1.93 and 1.95,(!)" he says disarmingly, before adding with a
mischievous grin, "My parents are average in height, but
it's good we're all as tall as we are. That shows there was
nobody else involved." (laughs)
Not surprisingly given his roots, Romero's first calling was
basketball, a sport he still plays every time the family gets
together. "Gimnasia from Comodoro Rivadavia, where I lived
for a long time, made me an offer, but I was 15 by then and
I was more into football. In the end I decided to join Racing
Club," he explains, secure in the knowledge that having
reached Canada, he has made the right decision. "If I'd
chosen basketball, I'd probably be asking my brother to help
me play with him in the States. He spent five years there
playing for Florida State."
A life between the sticks
As he acknowledges, his basketball-playing brother, five years
his elder, has had a major influence on his life. "I did
everything he did. When he was playing basketball I would copy
him. When he played football, I played football. That was how
I got into goalkeeping, when I was ten years old. I would
stand in the doorway at home and he would score goal after
goal against me," recalls Romero, who lists Iker Casillas,
Santiago Canizares and Oliver Kahn as his goalkeeping
inspirations. "The great thing about being a keeper is that
no one can ever say they know it all. Other keepers always
have a t?p they can pass on to help you improve."
And on the subject of polishing up his game, Argentina's man
in yellow admits to having made a change or two to his game
since last January's South American championship. "I used to
have a bit of trouble with crosses, but I've hung onto a good
few here. It was the same with shots at my near post. I let
in two like that in Paraguay, but I managed to stop one
against Panama the other day."
With the Albicelestes facing a possible Round-of-16 showdown
with Brazil, Romero signs off with his take on the old enemy.
"It's a classic rivalry, and we played them in the Sudamericano.
They're a great team, but we're not talking about them just
yet. We've got Korea DPR coming up and they'll be tough to
beat. After that we can start thinking about who we might play.
For now though, we've got to finish the group off properly."
For Romero that means keeping his goal intact for the third
game in a row. And if his cultured team-mates can continue
to keep him entertained with their beguiling play, then all
the better.
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