INTERVIEW NIGHTWATCH STAR TAC YOURSELF CORP. THIS MAN IS NOT A MACHINE

Averse to practicing, he reinvents fitness itself and appears as a fit and contented human being. When friends kiddingly say that, while at Holland's PSV he took part in more matches than practices, it is probably true. It is a well-known fact that Romário doesn't enjoy practices. His habit of sleeping late and getting up even later doesn't align with training schedules. So he has to employ superhuman efforts to attend, which doesn't mean that, once there, he will be as committed as everyone else. Work with the ball actually goes well: he practices shooting and perfects play finalizations. He also gets involved into tactical and technical practices. The problem lies in physical exercises: series of jumps, long and medium jogs are a no-go. At most, Romário goes for a few 20-, 30- or 50-meter sprints, works out for a half hour at the stationary bicycle at heavy load, and that's that. Very different from Flamengo's Training Center, Viajandão - a kiosk at Barra da Tijuca Beach, in Rio - became "Romário's office". That is where he'll practice, but after his own fashion, sunbathing, enjoying the company of friends and playing foot-volley. After all is said and done, a brief match at Viajandão equals a 50-minute practice, with sideways and frontal leaps, sprints, zigzags, acceleration and deceleration, speed-jogging. In addition to the physical effort, the practice of stopping the ball with the shoulder and making accurate passes with the chest and head becomes an asset to be used later in the soccer field. But playing too much is damaging, as it may overload the muscles. Some even say that the lesion that stopped him from going to the World Cup in France occurred after playing one too many foot-volley matches on a day when he was supposed to be resting - it would have been more prudent not to practice at all, even if in his own way.

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