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

Trusted man of Francesco Farioli, Pablo Rosario is the latest addition to FC Porto. 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 fields.

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

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

On the fields, Rosario stood out from a very young age. His early quality drew comparisons with Ronaldo—the Phenomenon—especially because he played further forward in the initial phase, and his stint at the amateur club DWS, at just 13 years old and with a distinctive ponytail, attracted the interest of the Dutch giants: Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, and Feyenoord tried to integrate him into their formations. In the case of the Rotterdam club, it was even a return to their training schools.

Pablo's coach at DWS once stated that the young player "could be better than Ruud Gullit." His father, on the other hand, was convinced: "He will play for the Dutch national team, I'm sure," he says in the mentioned documentary, even predicting: "One day, when the Netherlands are World Champions, you will receive a kiss and a necklace from the queen."

Rosario eventually chose Ajax's schools, where he progressed to the juniors, despite some injuries that delayed his evolution. In 2015/16, he stood out at Almere City, in the second division of the Netherlands. He later transferred to PSV, where he started in the B team before being called up by Philipp Cocu to join the main team.

The path spoke for itself: Pablito established himself and became indisputable under Mark van Bommel's command. Along the way, the father's dream was partially realized: Rosario was called up to the Netherlands' main national team, debuting in a friendly match in 2018, under Ronald Koeman's indication, against Belgium led by... Roberto Martínez.

Change of national team

Pablo Rosario has one cap for the Netherlands, but in 2025, FIFA authorized him to represent the Dominican Republic, a team he has represented five times.

In May of this year, after a long period away from the Dutch national team selections, Rosario, with FIFA's proper authorization, began wearing the Dominican Republic jersey, a tribute to his roots.

At the start of the 2021/22 season, without space in Roger Schmidt's plans at PSV, he transferred to France to represent Nice, where, two seasons later, he would reunite with Farioli. With the Italian coach, he played 34 matches for the Côte d’Azur club. At PSV, he also shared the locker room with Luuk de Jong. FC Porto now marks a new stage in a career that began with ambitions for 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.