The midfield, due to its position of connection between defense and attack, it is according to many the score where games have always been played and won. How many times have we heard of “conductor“In reference to”masters“Of the half court?

Here, in the case of Vagner Rogerio Nunes the only tangible musical reference is the almost homonymy with the much more famous German Romantic composer.

He arrived at Roma at the age of 24 at the request of Zdenek Zeman, Vagner had stood out with the shirt of Santos. The provenance from a forge of talent like that of Juventus was not, however, a guarantee of quality.

In the capital found a large Brazilian colony led by Aldair, was well received and infected the Roma fans with smiles and enthusiasm. Smiles that soon turned into grimaces of dissatisfaction.

A good start in the Italian Cup on September 3, 1997, when he let us glimpse some blows. Performance that turned out to be an apt note within a confusing score of out of tune instruments.

Zeman himself soon realized the error of evaluation committed (not a novelty for the coach) and limited himself to fielding the Brazilian as little as possible.

To the problems of a technical nature there were also personal ones with the Bohemian. Vagner was one of the many footballers who had a not exactly idyllic relationship in the two-year management Zeman.

A recurring fact not only with meteors like the Brazilian was, but also with players destined to make the fortunes of Rome such as Vincent Candela.

On the pitch, the few times it was used, it showed off its roughness and physical impetus. Two characteristics that are far from the class that can be expected from a Brazilian footballer. The Romanists expected a first violin but found themselves an out of tune double bass.

Vagner closed his first and only Roma year with 16 overall appearances, of which 5 arrived in the Cup and the rest scattered over an entire championship.

With three years still in the balance and a sizeable contract by the standards of the time, Roma had nothing left to do but try to recover by sending him on loan.

The only particular mark left by Vagner and which is still remembered in the capital is his singular habit of eating pasta with bananas. A custom that – by his own admission – earned him the name of “Vagner Banana”And motivated in this way by the Brazilian himself.

“I was used to eating rice and beans, feijoada, a typical Brazilian dish. I like very much. In Italy, all one does is eat pasta, pasta, pasta every day. Good, eh, for heaven’s sake. But always that …

So, to vary, at a certain point, I would put some pieces of banana on the plate. initially the companions made fun of me, then once they tasted it and changed their minds. It wasn’t bad at all …“

The midfielder traveled the Atlantic route in the opposite direction to the one that had brought him to Italy and accepted the two-year loan offer from the Vasco da Gama looking for new symphonies. But even at home, inspiration takes care not to suggest new melodies to him.

Also used at Vasco with the dropper, Vagner took away the satisfaction of winning the Libertadores Cup in 1998 while making a minimal contribution to the cause. Not enough to convince the Rio club to buy it outright.

In 2000 Vagner returned to Europe towards Rome, but he did not keep him and started looking for a new destination for the Brazilian.

The offer comes from Spain. The Celta Vigo he took him to replace Claude Makelele who in the meantime was sold to Real Madrid. A change that does not portend a technical change for the club.

But in La Liga, probably thanks to the difference in interpretation of the game of football, Vagner manages to carve out a dignified space and over the seasons he even gets to play Champions League with Celta.

Adventure ended in the round of 16 against Arsenal. However, the Brazilian was not on the pitch on the glorious night in which the Galicians defeated Milan at the San Siro 2-1 against all odds.

In January 2005 the second return to Brazil for a last footballing sonata with theAtletico Mineiro, with which he will never be able to make his debut due to a long series of physical problems linked to an untreated osteoarthritis.

Today Vagner is an entrepreneur and has invested the earnings accumulated in his career (at the time of Rome he earned about 500 thousand euros a year) in a company that deals with security for events and weddings.

However, he would not mind returning to the world of football, perhaps in a more triumphal role than his experience on the pitch.