By IANS
Rio de Janeiro : Brazilian striker Romario, a member of the 1994 World Cup winning team, will coach and also play for the Vasco da Gama football club at the South American Cup’s semi-finals Wednesday, reports Xinhua.
Club president Eurico Miranda announced the decision Monday, just two hours after the sacking of manager Celso Roth.
“Roth did a very good job at Vasco, but we scored only five points in the past few games (in the Brazilian league),” said Miranda, using Vasco’s current position in the national league to justify his decision.
The team is ranked 12th in the 20-team league.
“Romario will take the responsibility over this match. He will play and be the coach,” announced the Vasco president, adding that the striker will only do that in the game against Mexico’s Club America, Wednesday in Rio.
Miranda stressed a new manager will be announced Thursday.
The 41-year-old Romario expressed his interest in coaching a team after he scored his 1,000th goal as a player in May. However, he does not have a professional coaching licence, and Vasco’s physical trainer Mauro Brito will need to officially back him up in the semi-final game, signing the formal papers.
The local press speculated about Roth’s replacement. The front-runner is Antonio Lopes, who coached Vasco on several other occasions, winning three state championship titles, a regional title, a Brazilian league title (1997) and the Libertadores Cup in 1998.