SAN ANTONIO – Head boys’ soccer coach Juan Romero coaches the Southwest Dragons to follow a “next man up” mentality.
In spring 2025, Emiliano Romo went down with an injury, and Romero had to adjust.
“We have to move a defender or two to the goalie, but he helped tremendously and stepped up big time, so we didn’t lose a beat there,” Romero said.
At first, Romo’s injury seemed like part of the game — something that happens in sports.
But it was far from normal.
“The day before we played McCollum, it was a 1 v. 1, a clash with our right wing, and my leg got stuck in the turf with my cleat and then my leg broke,” Romo said. “They found out it was more serious. I went to the trainers, then they took me to the ER. They did an X-ray and found out it was more than a broken bone. I had a tumor. It was a tumor called fibroma, and it hollowed the inside of my bone.”
Suddenly, soccer was just a sport, and real life set in.
“At first, we thought it was cancer,” Romo said. “We got very emotional, me and my family. Then we did more tests and found out it was benign — a benign tumor.”
A benign tumor caught before it could take over more than just his leg.
“Without me breaking my bone, I would not know about the tumor,” Romo said. “It would’ve kept spreading, and if I had an injury like that again, it could’ve made my whole leg snap in half.”
With more information about his diagnosis, Romo had a choice to make about his soccer future.
“I had two options,” he said. “Either get the surgery and it would take a couple months to get back, or just quit soccer completely and not do the surgery. I picked soccer, obviously. Yes ma’am, I got the surgery. They cut the bone out, put a graft in, and I got a plate and five screws.”
The decision was easy for Romo. Romero said it wasn’t as easy for Romo’s mother.
“Talking with mom, she was pretty worried about Emiliano playing soccer again,” Romero said. “Emiliano has always been passionate about playing soccer, so he got back to us pretty much when the season started.”
After a few months of physical therapy and slowly working his way up and down the field, Romo is back — and fearless.
His comeback inspired teammates, including standout defender Samuel Plascencia.
“Valuable, just showing everybody that it can be anyone’s last day at any moment and making us work every single day like it’s our last,” Plascencia said.
“The great thing about our boys is they’re used to facing adversity in their lives,” Romero said. “They know how to respond, and we try to help them with that. It seems like all the right pieces are starting to align at the perfect time.”
Romo said he is tumor-free and will continue having checkups every few months.
Romo and the Dragons will be back in action at 6:30 p.m. Friday against Jay. The Dragons are on an eight-game win streak.
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