Brazilian fans chant Indian name as Romeo debuts

PANAJI: Romeo Fernandes was provided with an electrifying welcome by home fans of Clube Atletico Paranaense as he made his eagerly-awaited professional debut for the Brazilian club on Saturday (early Sunday morning).
The India midfielder normally trains with the club reserves but was called up to the senior team by coach Milton Mendes. Romeo started on the bench against Nacional in what was the club's final game in the Brazilian Campeonato Paranaense and finally got his chance to create history in the 69th minute when he replaced Rafinha.
Campeonato Paranaense is the state league of Parana. The Brazilian Championship or Serie A starts later on May 10.
"It was amazing to hear fans chant my name when I was warming up. Even young kids were cheering me with chants of Romeo, Romeo. It all seemed like a dream to be making my debut in Brazil," Romeo told TOI after Atletico Paranaense secured a comfortable 5-0 victory.
Romeo's elevation to the senior team comes just a week after another footballer, Gurpreet Singh, became the first Indian to play for a top-tier European club. The Staebek FC goalkeeper was among the first to congratulate Romeo.
"Congratulations to Romeo for making us proud in Brazil! Hopefully it's just the beginning of something new," he tweeted.
Romeo -who is on loan from Dempo Sports Club till June -got all of 24 minutes to show that he can carve a niche for himself even in Brazilian football, and although he did not score any goal playing as a striker, his confidence remained unharmed.
"I think I did reasonably well. Since I was playing my first competitive match for a club as big as Atletico Paranaense, and that too in Brazil, I was really excited," he said.
The match turned out to be a one-sided affair and Romeo had little to do after taking the field when his side was already 4-0 ahead. His best chance came immediately after he was introduced when he got at the end of a through ball but was flagged offside.
"The football here is on an entirely different level. The intensity is so much more than what we are used to in India," said Romeo.
The Brazilian Championship or Serie A starts on Sunday and Romeo is hoping he will have a role to play. "Let's see what happens," he said. More importantly, though, Romeo is hoping that India coach Stephen Constantine will take note of his stint in Brazil and summon him for the camp to select the India squad for the World Cup 2018 qualifier against Oman in Bengaluru on June 11.