The untold story behind rising Indian footballer Romeo Fernandes' return from Brazil

It was not meant to be a twenty-minutes-of-fame story. Indian footballer Romeo Fernandes’ journey to Brazil after a recommendation from legend Zico was supposed to be worth more than a consolation appearance in a three-month stint.

As things stand, Romeo’s role has turned from hero to zero, his loan deal with Atletico Paranaense has led to a contract stand-off with the club and the loss of his place in the Indian team due to a lack of action over the last few months. Eventually, he had to choose between getting stuck in Brazil or playing for India. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that he chose the latter.

“I have requested the club to return to India only because firstly, I would like to play for FC Goa in the Indian Super League 2015 and secondly I could not break into official matches on a regular basis. At this stage of my career it is important for me to be playing, so I thought its best to request a return to India,” Romeo said in a statement to the media.

But at least two sources have confirmed to us that it was not that simple. There are four sides to Romeo’s story — one, that of an introvert personality struggling to be accepted in a foreign country; the second, lure of money and first-team football that India offered him as he realised he wasn’t able to break into the Atletico first team; the third India coach Stephen Constantine’s decision to leave him out of the Indian team and the fourth and most important – the agents, unspoken agreements between clubs, and India’s image of a growing football ‘market’ – all resulting in the unfortunate U-turn he had to make.

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Romeo’s rise in football has been rapid. He went from talented teenager to I-League player to being one of ISL’s most talked about attackers in just five years. It’s hard to believe that the Madgao-born winger was scouted by Indian club Dempo just five years ago. A season later, in 2011, he impressed during his loan to Margaon SC (helping them win promotion to Goa’s professional league). And later in the same year, he made his I-League debut for Dempo at just 19.

In 2014, he rose to national prominence with his performances in the Indian Super League for FC Goa — scoring three goals and making two assists as they reached the semifinals.

But Romeo is an unlikely potential star. Words like ‘simpleton,’ ‘innocent’, and ‘small town boy’ were used to describe him.

“He’s very shy,” Mathew Costa, his coach at Dempo during Romeo’s formative years, told Firstpost. “He never spoke, especially with the coaches. But with other players, it seemed he was okay. Romeo’s dedication and hardwork set him apart though. I remember taking him from Madgaon to Panjim everyday in my car for training — he is a very quiet person.”

When he was a teenager, Romeo even found it hard to stick to training. “He almost stopped (coming) – making all sorts of excuses,” Costa said. “But it was normal for his age at that time and I didn’t want to lose him because he was simply too good. So I started giving him the utmost importance and prepared him mentally."

Romeo had never left Goa to study or play football before becoming the first Indian footballer other than a goalkeeper to play a competitive fixture for a club in the top tier of a foreign league when he appeared for Atletico in Brazil earlier this year. But his 20 minutes of game-time soured from euphoria to regret within weeks.

Romeo’s return sparked headlines that mocked his stint and rumours on why he came back were circulating for a few days. Amid all this, Romeo went into a shell. He has still to fully explain what happened in Brazil and why he chose to return. Meanwhile Atletico released a statement saying they were allowing him ’to play in the Indian Super League’. Sources close to the club said it was not clear Romeo had been been released from his contract completely, as he has claimed.

Firstpost tried to contact Romeo multiple times but he didn’t respond. Despite his representative’s requests, Romeo would not budge — he is simply ’too shy’.

While discussing players he knows and have been abroad, Costa speaks about two other things that affect players who go abroad: food and language. “Even when Dempo sent players to Denmark to train, getting used to food was a challenge. The professionalism with food abroad is next level,” he said.

Romeo made sure to thank Atletico for everything they did for him in his statement.

“I would like to thank Atletico for the unique opportunity on my football career, offering high class facilities of accommodation, nutrition, training, Portuguese classes, introducing me to the Goan family who could help on the settlement in Curitiba. From day one, they have been very hospitable and looked after me in the best possible way, more than I could have asked for.”

But word is that Romeo hardly spent any time with the Goan family. A natural loner, Romeo was always going to feel isolated in a strange city with no one familiar to lean on.

The city of Curitiba — which means ’the pine city’ — is one of the most clean and environment-friendly cities in the country (70 percent of the city’s trash is recycled by the residents). It also has a youthful culture and there is an argument that Romeo should have tried harder to adjust.

“He was chasing a dream, and he gave up too easily. A more ambitious footballer would have given himself some more time,” a source close to Romeo told us.

“He’s grown up now. He has to be strong to make it big. It doesn’t come easy (success abroad), but it is expected from a player like Romeo to grow mentally too,” his coach Costa added.

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If that was all, Romeo’s story wouldn’t be complicated enough. But that isn’t all. The deal that took Romeo to Brazil might not be as straightforward as it appears.

“The door is open for everyone, but certainly not for a player who has gone to Brazil for somebody else’s benefits,” India coach Stephen Constantine said when asked why Romeo was not part of his squad for the two World Cup 2018 qualifiers against Oman and Guam earlier this month.

Constantine added that Romeo could not expect to play for India after just 20 minutes of playing time under his belt.

It’s the ‘someone else’s benefit’ part that stings. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) already has a tie-up with Atletico PR — but for an U-17 exchange programme. Atletico’s vice-president also said that the club would “like to have an Indian on their roster” in the future.

The ISL had five Atletico players in the draft last year: Erwin Spitzner, Gustavo dos Santos, Bruno de Lima, Guilherme Felipe de Castro and Pedro Gusmao. Their international director Luiz Greco, who was also technical director of the Mohun Bagan academy a few years back, was part of the contingent when the club struck a deal with IMG-Reliance for that season.

So Atletico and Indian clubs are no strangers. Beto, the man who brokered the deal, is now a popular agent striking deals between Brazilians and Indian clubs. He was the one who convinced Zico to coach FC Goa. But Beto has been praised by players since he just charges a five percent fee, that too from clubs and not players, as his transfer cut. He also has physios and trainers that players can use during the off season. By the looks of it, he seems like an agent who cares — and to be honest, Indian players need people to tout their talent around the world. Their intentions, however, can never be fully known.

As a source put it to us: “He [Romoe> is too innocent and didn’t realise (what was happening) at all.”

Firstpost has also found out that Romeo was getting paid slightly less in Brazil than what he would have been had he stayed back at Dempo. So as far as the player is concerned, he didn’t leave Dempo for money — he left for football. His reasons to return are also, according to him, for football.

But, the question is, did he come back for the money too?

Romeo’s deal last year at Dempo was around Rs 7 lakhs. This includes the I-League and playing for ISL franchise FC Goa. But this year he has been given an incredible raise. In a combined I-League plus ISL deal, Romeo will get paid Rs 45 lakhs, according to a source.

“He’s always been ambitious football-wise — he doesn’t talk too much about money. But imagine the situation: things went wrong at Atletico, he struggled and then got left out of the India team. Then he gets a much better deal back home — where he likes it. You simply can’t blame him for making his choice,” a well-wisher adds.

Speaking with multiple sources from Dempo and FC Goa paints an interesting picture of Romeo’s time in Brazil. He joined the club mid-February with an option to extend till December — some reports suggest that there was also an option of a permanent deal.

Romeo began by training with the U-23 team. He impressed manager Enderson Moreira enough to be promoted to the senior team set up for a couple of weeks. But Moreira got sacked on 20 April, and in came Milton Mendes. This is where things started going downhill for Romeo. Mendes sent him back to train with the reserve side, where surprisingly only ‘six or seven’ players would turn up. Romeo communicated this not to the club, but to his agency back in India, who in turn, spoke with his parent club Dempo.

After an exchange of few emails between the clubs, Romeo got 20 minutes as a substitute — coming on in a Campeonato Paranaense match with the team 4-0 up already. After the debut, Romeo told us from Brazil that he was flagged offside when through one-on-one as soon as he came on. So that was the only highlight of the match as far as he was concerned. This was also not Brazil’s premier tournament — it was a local state league of Parana - but it still counts as an appearance for a top division side, which is why Romeo will always be the first Indian outfielder to play a competitive match for a team in the top division of a foreign club.

Romeo’s former coach Armando Colaco, who led Dempo to four national league titles, one Durand Cup and one Federation Cup, told Firstpost: “Brazil is the perfect place for Romeo to play football because of his direct style (which Romeo told us he would not change). Due to his physique, I wouldn’t recommend Romeo a European club, where the game is very physical.”

Romeo loves stepovers and taking on players and Brazil would allow him that creative freedom. But it seems that the appearance came as a result of pressure from India because Romeo soon gets permission to come home for his sister’s wedding and abruptly decides not to go back.

Despite telling Firstpost in an interaction from Brazil that the ‘facilities were excellent’ at the club, the fact that there were issues with discipline in training point to another direction. Now while Brazil has a lot of clubs which don’t operate professionally in a convulated football league system, Atletico is one of their premier clubs. That they would treat a player like this certainly raises eyebrows.

Or, maybe there was something else at play. “Maybe he went there full of ambition and realised he was not good enough; that he could be closer to home and be assured of first-team football,” a Dempo official tells us.

There is also the case that Romeo knew about Constantine’s decision before the 26-man squad for the World Cup qualifiers was named. Atletico’s statement said “the presence of Romeo in 2015 ISL will also allow the player greater exposure targeting India Selection of calls for the matches of the 11th and 16th of June, the qualifiers of the World Cup 2018.” But the ISL starts after the qualifiers - in October - so that simply doesn’t make sense.

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If, after his short stay, Romeo thought he was on Constantine’s wrong side and had to return to realise his ‘dream of playing for India’, then he made the best decision.

Romeo is just 22-years-old and a very talented winger. Another good ISL, and bigger clubs may beckon. Bigger contracts certainly will. But he needs good advice and people around him he can trust – so that a promising career isn’t derailed. This a chapter of his life Romeo should put behind him. The journey is far from over. In fact, it has just begun.

The writer tweets @TheFalseNo9