In 1994, the World Cup came to the United States for the first time in history, but even though it was a historic moment for the nation, history was made by another nation: Brazil.

El Selecao won its fourth World Cup by defeating Italy on penalties in the final. The South American side was composed of numerous great players, but one of them dominated the competition. That man was Romario and he was the eventual Golden Ball winner. Here is a look at Romario's heroic campaign in 1994.

As has been the case with many World Cup heroes (see Ronaldo and Maradona for example), Romario's is a story of redemption. He was hyped prior to the 1990 World Cup but picked up a major injury months before the competiton got underway. He recovered in time to get a spot on the roster, but only played 66 in the entire competition. Brazil wound up eliminated in the round of 16, one of its weakest performances to date.

Prior to the 1994 tournament, Romario seemed like he would not be a part of Brazil's plan for the World Cup. He had some arguments with coach Carlos Alberto Parreira over being left as a reserve in a friendly and was not allowed to play in the team's first few qualifiers. However, he was called up by Parreira in a crucial game against Uruguay.

"I already know what is going to happen: I'm going to finish Uruguay," he stated prior to the match. And he did just that. He scored two goals to ensure that Brazil qualified for the World Cup in America. The first goal was a towering header while the second saw him dribble past the keeper and pass the ball into an empty net.


But his prowess would not end there. The Brazilian legend started off the tournament with the first goal that Brazil scored in the World Cup against Russia. Just 25 minutes in, he connected with a corner kick cross that gave Brazil a 1-0 lead; the team would go on to win 2-0.

In the second game, Romario added to his goal-scoring account by producing a calm finish on a through-ball in the second game against Cameroon. Romario was being chased by three different African players and an oncoming goalie, but still manage to slide the ball softly into the net without great difficulty.


The goal-scoring continued in the third and final group game as Romario ran at the Swedish defense down the middle of the park and fired a toe-poke into the back of the net.

He would not score in the round of 16 match against the United States, but did manage an assist on Bebeto's lone goal that put the team through to the quarterfinals where it would take on the Netherlands.

In that game, he would finish on a counterattack to score his fourth goal of the tournament. He would then score the lone goal against Sweden in the semifinals with a tremendous header that was reminiscent of the goal he scored against Uruguay in the aforementioned qualifier.

Romario would not score in the final against Italy (it was a scoreless tie), but he did convert his penalty.

The superstar would not perform in any other World Cups due to injury, but he did manage to overcome the odds and become a hero for the Samba Kings for seven games in 1994.