Rodrigo Romero Saldivar (Mexico) is passionate about football (soccer) and everything related to it.
He holds the record title for the world's largest collection of footballs with a total of 1,230 verified on May 21, 2020 in Puebla, Mexico.
Rodrigo started his collection in 2006 after returning from the World Cup in Germany.
He was able to attend as he was studying in Spain as an exchange student. Rodrigo strategically planned his study abroad period in order to be in Europe during the World Cup!
He bought his first ever football in Germany so he could play soccer with his friend when they weren’t busy attending World Cup matches.
That first football inspired Rodrigo to begin collecting them. He buys a lot of them himself, as well as getting some items from friends and family.
Rodrigo wants to continue to expand his collection, although it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to find new balls that meet the same standard of quality and value as his current items.
He bought a lot of his initial footballs from sports stores in Mexico, then moved on to international online purchases.
He now gets help from a group of mini football collectors that he found on social networking sites, with members from different parts of the world such as Canada, Italy, England and Spain.
This passion has given him the opportunity to make good friends, travel to new places, meet soccer players, and achieve a Guinness World Records title.
Despite owning over a thousand footballs, Rodrigo has two favourites that stand out.
The first was the one his wife María Jose gave him to announce that he was going to be a father. It is not a part of his official collection, but is a part of his most important memories.
The second ball was purchased at the 2012 Olympic Games, held in London, where Mexico won the football (soccer) gold medal, its most important achievement at a national team level.
Rodrigo is passionate about everything related to football; he is an amateur player although he has always dreamed of playing at the professional level.
Every Saturday, he gets together with his friend to play, and has been doing so for 23 years. His team is called Profes FC and their slogan is "better people than soccer players".
As an Atletico Madrid fan, Rodrigo has two favourite players and he hopes to meet them at some point in his life.
The first is Fernando “El niño” Torres, who Rodrigo believes embodies all the values that represent the Atlético de Madrid club and with which he identifies.
The second is Colombian Radamel "El tigre" Falcao, as Rodrigo likes the way he is off the pitch, as well as what he shows every time he is on the field.
For Rodrigo, achieving a Guinness World Records title has brought him great satisfaction and he hopes to use it to inspire others.
"I want to show them that everything can be achieved if you set your mind to it, that in life nobody gives you anything, that I have been very lucky, but that is because I have looked for it. Luck does not come by itself; you find it and if you set your mind to it and fight for your dreams, the doors and roads become easier."
The previous record holder was Fernando Fuglini (Argentina) with a total of 861 different footballs, a collection he began in 1995.
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