Ángel Romero revealed that he thought about leaving professional football after running out of a chance of qualifying for Russia 2018 with the Paraguayan national team
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While focusing on winning a place in the XI of Boca and having a chance to say present in the delegation of the Paraguayan National Team that he will travel to World Cup 2026, Ángel Romero recalled one of the most difficult moments of his career, when he even thought about leaving football at just 25 years old.
In an interview with the La Tribu channel, the attacker revealed that the elimination of La Albirroja to Russia 2018, after the defeat against the Venezuelan National Team, struck him deeply from an emotional point of view. “After that I didn't have the strength to continue. I remember that we played on a Thursday, we lost and I had to go back to Brazil. He was in Corinthians and on Sunday he had to play a classic with São Paulo,” he said of that episode that left him on the verge
of retirement.
That impact was tremendous, since, according to him, he returned to Brazil convinced that he did not want to continue playing, isolating himself from everyone, even without answering his phone. “My flight left at 2 in the morning because we were convinced that we were qualifying, but what happened happened,” heremarked
.
The situation changed when he arrived at the São Paulo club, where he found key support to move forward. “The president and the coach were waiting for me in the room. They told me: 'Don't worry, we know what happened to you. Tomorrow you're playing, it's going to be good for you. You're going to title '”, he recalled. Although he didn't feel fit, he accepted the challenge and ended up being decisive in that match, as his team won 3-2 against his own goal, at a turning point that allowed him to continue
his career. Ángel Romero will try to get into Paraguay's squad for the 2026 World Cup
His testimony exposes the most human side of football: behind demand and competition, there are also moments of crisis that can change a career. Almost nine years after that time, Romero looks ahead and seeks continuity to remain in the orbit of coach Gustavo Alfaro, with the objective of joining the roster for the next World Cup
