José Rafael Romo Pérez (born 6 December 1993) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Super League Greece 2 club Athens Kallithea. He previously played domestically for Llaneros, Deportivo Petare, ACD Lara and Aragua, in the Spanish Tercera División for Rayo Vallecano B, and for Cypriot clubs Olympiakos Nicosia, Karmiotissa, AEK Larnaca, AEL Limassol and Levadiakos. He represented Venezuela at under-20 level.
Club career Romo was born in 1993 in , Portuguesa, Venezuela. His father, Rafael Romo Abad, played football professionally as a goalkeeper, and he is a younger brother of Venezuelan international goalkeeper Rafael Romo. Romo played youth football for Atlético Turén and Deportivo Táchira before beginning his professional career with Llaneros in the 2011–12 Venezuelan Primera División. After two seasons and 39 Primera División appearances (8 goals), he signed a two-year contract with another top-flight club, Deportivo Petare. He was used mainly as a substitute, scored only once, and spent the second year of his contract on loan to ACD Lara. He was a regular starter during the Apertura, less so in the second half of the season, but made three appearances in the play-offs for qualification for the Copa Sudamericana, in which Lara lost out to Carabobo in a penalty shoot-out.
Romo spent the 2016–17 season with Rayo Vallecano B of the Spanish Tercera División (fourth tier). He missed some time through injury, but finished the season with five goals from 27 appearances. In December 2016, he was back in Venezuela to sign for Aragua. He played regularly for the Primera División club for one-and-a-half seasons, and then left after the 2018 Apertura to return to Europe. He signed for Cypriot Second Division club Olympiakos Nicosia; his brother Rafael was at the time playing for another Nicosia-based club, APOEL. In his first season, he scored six goals from his first seven outings, and ended the season with fifteen as he helped his team finish second in the division and gain promotion to the First Division. He was an unused substitute once in the First Division for Olympiakos, but was then loaned to another Second Division team, Karmiotissa. Again, he helped his team gain promotion, this time as 2019–20 champions. He then signed for Karmiotissa, and continued to play and score regularly in the top flight. In June 2021, he signed a three-year contract with Cypriot First Division club AEK Larnaca.
International career During his second season with Llaneros, he was selected for Venezuela's under-20 squad for the 2013 South American Youth Football Championship. He appeared in three of his country's four group matches as they finished fourth in their five-team group and did not progress further.
While at Rayo Vallecano in 2016, Romo was checked out by new Venezuela senior team manager, Rafael Dudamel, ahead of an unofficial friendly against Galicia, but he was not chosen.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsLlaneros2011–12Venezuelan Primera División122 001222012–13Venezuelan Primera División276 20296Total398 20418Deportivo Petare2013–14Venezuelan Primera División211 20231ACD Lara (loan)2014–15Venezuelan Primera División283 30313Rayo Vallecano B2015–16Spanish Tercera División275——275Aragua2017Venezuelan Primera División273 102832018Venezuelan Primera División154 20174Total427 30457Olympiakos Nicosia2018–19Cypriot Second Division261500 26152019–20Cypriot First Division0000 00Total261500 2615Karmiotissa (loan)2019–20Cypriot Second Division19920—219Karmiotissa2020–21Cypriot First Division361120—3811Total552040—5920AEK Larnaca2021–22Cypriot First Division31555—36102022–23Cypriot First Division1821020212Total49765205712AEL Limassol2022–23Cypriot First Division12141—162Levadiakos2023–24Super League Greece 2251121—27122024–25Super League Greece11200—110Total361321—3814Career total3358016712036387
References
External links