updated 2:20 p.m. ET April 12, 2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - When Romario declared he would retire after scoring his 1,000th goal in the famed Maracana stadium, it seemed like a storybook ending to a glorious career.

Instead, it’s turned into the never-ending story.

Vasco’s penalty kick elimination from the Rio Cup tournament Wednesday marked Romario’s third game without scoring since he claimed his 999th goal March 25 against Flamengo.

It was also the latest installment in a cliffhanger that has kept a soccer-crazed nation poised at the edge of its seats and a legion of school children up past bedtime following a saga worthy of a Brazilian soap opera.

“Romario, score goal 1,000 soon, I’m already broke,” read a sign held by a fan during Wednesday’s game, echoing the sentiment of many.

The player’s wife, Isbella Bittencourt, has said the anxiety surrounding the 1,000th goal has left Romario irritable and sleepless. She also has complained about the strain on the family, with the children having to attend late-night games in hopes of seeing their father reach the milestone — which would put him on a pedestal alongside fellow Brazilian Pele.

Vasco coach Renato Gaucho has complained that the quest has hurt the team, with players feeling pressured to pass to the past-his-prime striker, now graying at the temples.

It hardly matters to most Brazilians that, according to FIFA, Romario still has quite a way to go before reaching 1,000 goals — a feat only achieved by Pele, who says he accumulated 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches and who claims he scored his 1,000th goal against Vasco when he was 29.

In fact, part of the attraction of Romario’s quest for 1,000 is its questionable authenticity.

“He’s a marketing genius,” said Vinicius de Oliveira, a computer technician who said he admires Romario’s “malandragem,” a highly prized quality in Rio de Janeiro that translates roughly as trickery.

Romario counts 71 goals scored in amateur games, scrimmages and unofficial matches against small clubs. He has had to revise his tally downward several times after it was revealed that some of the goals he counted were scored in matches that never happened and in games that ended 0-0.

“Romario has a reputation of being a ’malandro,’ someone who doesn’t train and doesn’t sweat and still wins. But that is just the image he projects, he has a genius for scoring goals in the penalty area,” said Ronaldo Helal, a sports sociologist at the Rio de Janeiro State University. “For me the dramatization of the 1,000th goal is more important than whether it is in fact his 1,000th goal.”

Helal says that Romario’s career long has been characterized by bluster and trash-talking.

“When he was 23 years old he said he’d quit playing at 28. He’s still playing at 41 and playing quite well considering his age,” he said.

At 39, Romario stunned everyone by winning the 2005 scoring title in the Brazilian league. He also helped Brazil win the 1989 and 1997 Copa America and the 1997 Confederations Cup.

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Most of Romario’s goals were scored for Vasco, where he began his career at 18 in 1985.

Romario says his most important goals came for Brazil against the Netherlands in the 1994 World Cup quarterfinals, and against Uruguay in South American World Cup qualifying a year earlier.

But perhaps Romario’s finest moment was leading Brazil to the World Cup title in 1994, when he was named FIFA’s most outstanding player. A muscle injury led to him being cut from the 1998 team.

Vasco is next scheduled to play in Maracana stadium in June.

“Pele also took a while to reach 1,000. After he scored 999 he had to wait four games to make 1,000,” Helal said. “Everyone wanted him to score 1,000 and he got anxious.”

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