Sao Paulo: At 21, Brazil’s Gabriel Jesus may be apprehensive about next month’s World Cup — but legendary striker Romario wants him to know the key to success is simple: concentration, goals and plenty of sex.

He says that’s how he helped Brazil clinch the 1994 World Cup — and it seemed to work. During the tournament in the United States, Romario netted five goals and won the player of the tournament award, before bagging Fifa’s World Player of the Year the same year.

“Have enough sex is one piece of advice, as is making the most you can of your days off and, of course, concentrate on match days and during the games,” the player-turned-senator told Lance! On Wednesday.

Romario’s record is a tough act to follow — but the renowned striker sees potential in Manchester City’s Jesus. “I believe he’s quite aware of his football and what it represents for the Brazilian team. He has to arrive at the World Cup and score a goal. That’s the most important thing,” he said.

A football superstar known for his sense of fun, Romario is Brazil’s fourth-highest goal scorer — still two goals ahead of Neymar.

Although he only appeared in two World Cups — and played just half-a-game in 1990 — Romario was star of the show in the US, where Brazil scooped their fourth world title after a 24-year drought.

“The World Cup is a totally different competition from the rest, in which you have to be 100 per cent focused and push all your problems aside, otherwise you aren’t going to have the best Cup possible,” he said. 

“It is good that he is playing in Europe because maybe 80 or 90 per cent of the best players in the world play there and he will have faced them already. But the first thing I advise him to do is have lots of good sex,” Romario added.

At 52, Romario has now swapped football for politics, winning a seat in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies in 2010.

Agencies