‘Queen’s kiss’, father’s advice and a documentary: Pablo Rosario’s story | OneFootball

Trusted by Francesco Farioli, Pablo Rosario is FC Porto’s latest signing. The defensive midfielder, born in Amsterdam and an international for the Dominican Republic, arrived in the Invicta city on Wednesday, signed a contract valid for four seasons, and was officially presented on Thursday. This marks a new phase in the career of a player who, like so many young dreamers, aspired to reach the top from the football pitches.

The son of divorced Dominican parents, Rosario was advised from an early age by his father, who did not want to see Pablito follow the same path he himself had taken years before—a path marked by women, alcohol, and dubious associations with gangs. “There are very beautiful women who can make your head spin,” says his father in the documentary De Prijs van de Hemel (The Price of Heaven), released in 2012, which documents precisely the first steps of the now FC Porto player’s career.

An excerpt from the documentary ‘De Prijs van de Hemel’:

Pablo’s coach at DWS once said that the youngster “could be better than Ruud Gullit.” His father, on the other hand, was convinced: “He’s going to play for the Dutch national team, I’m sure,” he says in the aforementioned documentary, even predicting: “One day, when the Netherlands are world champions, you’ll get a kiss and a necklace from the queen.”

Rosario eventually chose Ajax’s academy, where he progressed up to the junior ranks, despite some injuries that delayed his development. In 2015/16, he stood out at Almere City, in the Dutch second division. He later moved to PSV, where he started with the B team before being called up by Philipp Cocu to join the main squad.

His journey spoke for itself: Pablito established himself and became indispensable under Mark van Bommel’s leadership. Along the way, his father’s dream was partially realized: Rosario was called up to the Netherlands senior national team, making his debut in a friendly match in 2018, under Ronald Koeman, against Belgium, then managed by… Roberto Martínez.

Change of national team

Pablo Rosario has one senior cap for the Netherlands, but in 2025, FIFA authorized him to represent the Dominican Republic, a team he has already played for on five occasions.

In May this year, after a long period away from the Oranje squad, Rosario, with the proper authorization from FIFA, began wearing the Dominican Republic jersey, a tribute to his roots.

At the start of the 2021/22 season, with no place in Roger Schmidt’s plans at PSV, he moved to France to play for Nice, where, two seasons later, he would be reunited with Farioli. Under the Italian coach, he played 34 matches for the Côte d’Azur club. At PSV, he also shared the dressing room with Luuk de Jong. FC Porto now marks a new chapter in a career that began with dreams of reaching the top and was built with a good dose of realism.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.