The eighth king of Rome
A demigod in yellow and red

Falcao with Bruno Conti at celebrations of AS Roma’s 80th anniversary

By Marco Fagioli
november 2008

Paulo Roberto Falcao arrived in 1980 when Roma’s only championship title was almost 40 years in the past. His glorious five-year spell at the club coincided with the Serie A championship, a brace of Italian Cups and a final in the European Champions Cup.
Falcao (a native of the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, now aged 55), is still an idol for the tifosi who pack the Curva Sud behind the south goal at the Olympic Stadium. Last year at celebrations to mark the club’s 80th anniversary the stadium rose as one to offer the Brazilian a standing ovation. Even today Falcao is still considered one of the best players ever to have graced the beautiful game in Italy. It all began in 1980.

– What can you remember about your arrival in Rome?
– It was an incredible day. I knew Roma fans were passionate but, …I expected just a couple of team officials would be there to meet me at the airport. Instead when I arrived at Fiumicino I was submerged by hundreds of celebrating fans. The newspapers next day said there were 6,000 people. It was then I knew that people weren’t there for Falcao, but for a hope, a dream. I felt the responsability that I had to help the club win again, to bring some satisfaction to these fans after years of gloom.

– Was it difficult to get used to life in Rome?
– When I knew the move was going through I asked some friends who already knew the city. They told me about the Colosseum, the Forum, the unique air of history. When I arrived I concentrated above all on the team, on going about my business as a professional soccer player. It was my job to adapt to the team and not the other way round. Rome is a city that offers marvellous opportunities, but I was there to play football.

– So, no Colosseum?
– I went there for the first time on my last day before going back to Brazil, where I ended my career at San Paulo. In five years in Rome I’d never managed to visit it before. I have fond memories of my house in the Balduina district, in via Alfredo Fusco. Then the emotion of seeing via San Pietro in carcere.

– Nowadays (AS Roma playmaker and captain Francesco) Totti would never dream of going for a stroll in the city centre. How was it for you?
– The same. I didn’t go out much, but the few times I went to Trastevere I went there late at night and only in the summer when the football season was over. But when my career was finished I made up for it and came back and really visited the city where I had spent five beautiful years.

– Do you come back often to Rome?
– Not much. There are too many work commitments. I work for radio Gaucha, the newspaper ZeroHora and TV Globo. It’s difficult even to catch a Serie A game on tv, at that time I always seem to be on a plane.

– This season’s Champions League final will be played at the Olympic Stadium. Perhaps it will finally be possible to wipe out the memory of that cursed final 24 years ago when Liverpool beat Roma 2-1 on penalties. You were there.
– It would be great if Roma could get back to the final. After many years they’ve finally got a top level team again and it would be fantastic to avenge that awful evening. But it won’t be easy.

– A promise. 23 May 2009, Olympic Stadium, final Roma–Liverpool. Will Falcao be there?
– Work permitting, yes I will.