Introduction
Sergio Germán Romero (born 22 February 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for English club Manchester United and the Argentina national team.
He made his debut with Racing Club in the Argentine Primera División in 2007 and then transferred to Dutch club AZ at the end of the season. He won the Eredivisie in 2009 and two years later joined Italian side Sampdoria. In 2013 he joined Monaco on a season-long loan spell. He joined Manchester United in July 2015.
A full international with over 80 caps since 2009, Romero has represented Argentina at two World Cups and as many Copa América tournaments, finishing as runner-up in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and in the 2015 and 2016 Copa América tournaments. He also was part of their team which won gold at the 2008 Olympics.
Club career
Racing Club
Romero passed from the youth to the first team of Racing Club in 2006, making his debut in the Argentine Primera División.
AZ
In 2007, Romero signed for AZ, managed by Louis van Gaal. Due to an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Boy Waterman, Romero made his Eredivisie debut on 30 September 2007 against Heracles Almelo, eventually becoming a regular as the team came 11th.
In 2008–09, Romero kept a 950-minute clean sheet for AZ from November 2008 to February 2009. However, on 5 March 2009, he made a mistake which allowed NAC Breda's Nourdin Boukhari to score for a 2–1 defeat in the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup; he responded after the game by punching the door and walls of his team's changing room, breaking bones in his hand and ruling himself out at a crucial stage of the season. He returned on 26 April 2009 after Joey Didulica got injured in a clash with Luis Suárez. As AZ won the Eredivisie in the 2008–09 season, he made his debut with the club in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League in the following season.
Sampdoria
On 22 August 2011, Romero was signed by Sampdoria for €2.1 million on a 4-year contract, who had been relegated the previous season to Serie B. He made his debut four days later at home against Padova. The season ended with Sampdoria in sixth place, and after victories over Sassuolo and Varese 1910 in the playoffs, they earned promotion to Serie A.
For the 2013–14 season, Romero was loaned to Monaco of Ligue 1. Second choice behind Danijel Subašić, he played three league games as the team finished as runners-up to Paris Saint-Germain. After his return to Sampdoria, he was most often the backup to Emiliano Viviano.
Manchester United
On 27 July 2015, Manchester United completed the signing of Romero on a free transfer. He penned a three-year contract, with the option to extend for a further year, and reunited with his former AZ manager Louis Van Gaal. With David de Gea withdrawn from the squad amidst transfer speculation, and Víctor Valdés out of favour with manager Louis van Gaal, Romero made his Premier League debut on 8 August 2015 as the season opened with a 1–0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. His distribution was described as "nervy" but produced two crucial saves that helped United win the game. He did not concede in his first three league games for United.
International career
Romero represented Argentina at the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay and at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada where on 8 August 2007 Romero was first included in the Argentine selection for a friendly match against Norway and against Australia, which Argentina also went on to win. He replaced injured Oscar Ustari at the 2008 Summer Olympics football tournament.
Romero was called up to the full senior side by then coach Diego Maradona debuting on 9 September 2009 in a 0-1 FIFA World Cup qualifier loss against Paraguay and playing in the win against Uruguay in Montevideo that saw Argentina qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He played in all five of Argentina's World Cup matches which ended at the quarter-final stage.
Romero was part of Sergio Batista's 2011 Copa América squad in which Argentina the hosts lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals. He retained his position as number one choice under new coach Alejandro Sabella for the ongoing 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Romero was Argentina's starting goalkeeper at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In the semi-final, he earned himself Man of the Match by saving kicks from Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder as Argentina defeated the Netherlands 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out to reach the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final. On 11 July 2014, Romero was named on the three-man shortlist for FIFA's Golden Glove award for the tournament's best goalkeeper due to his performances that led his team to the final.
At the 2015 Copa América, Romero saved from Juan Camilo Zúñiga in the penalty shoot-out at the end of Argentina's goalless quarter-final against Colombia in Viña del Mar; although three takers did not score their penalties, this was the only save.
Personal life
Despite being 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall, Romero is nicknamed "Chiquito" as he is relatively short compared to his brothers, in particular his professional basketball-playing brother Diego. He is married to fellow Argentine Eliana Guercio, with whom he has a daughter.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 7 January 2017
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Racing Club | 2005–06 | Primera División | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2006–07 | Primera División | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||||
| AZ | 2007–08 | Eredivisie | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | Eredivisie | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 29 | 0 | ||||
| 2009–10 | Eredivisie | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Eredivisie | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | |||
| Total | 90 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 109 | 0 | |||
| Sampdoria | 2011–12 | Serie B | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Serie A | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 33 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2014–15 | Serie A | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 71 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 74 | 0 | ||||
| Monaco (loan) | 2013–14 | Ligue 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| Manchester United | 2015–16 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 173 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 212 | 0 | ||
International
- As of match played 15 November 2016
| Argentina senior team | |
|---|---|
| Year | Caps |
| 2009 | 4 |
| 2010 | 11 |
| 2011 | 10 |
| 2012 | 9 |
| 2013 | 10 |
| 2014 | 13 |
| 2015 | 13 |
| 2016 | 15 |
| Total | 85 |
Honours
Club
- AZ
- Eredivisie: 2008–09
- Johan Cruijff Schaal: 2009
- Manchester United
- FA Cup: 2015–16
- FA Community Shield: 2016
International
- Argentina U20
- FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2007
- Argentina U23
- Olympic Gold Medal: 2008
- Argentina
- FIFA World Cup: Runner-up 2014
- Copa América: Runner-up 2015, 2016
- ^
- "Louis van Gaal says he 'taught Sergio Romero how to save penalties'". Daily Mail. 10 July 2014.
- "A sixth star for Argentina". FIFA.com. 22 July 2007.
- "Angel delivers Argentina gold". FIFA.com. 23 August 2008.
- "Sergio Romero: Manchester United sign Argentina goalkeeper". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 27 July 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- Dawkes, Phil (5 July 2010). "Chile 0–0 Argentina (Chile win 4–1 on penalties)". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 17 July 2015.