Marco Romero and the story of how he composed “Because I believe in you” in five minutes

Since he has the use of reason, Marco Romero He remembers those afternoons when he went to the stadium to see Alianza Lima with his father. From 11 in the morning until six in the evening, she spent her time watching games with her father. “I remember that my dad carried a giant bag of bread that he had prepared with everything he could, from eggs, butter, ham, chicken. Everything he had found in the house had been put into 20 loaves ”counts between laughs.

Today the famous Peruvian composer, a lifelong fan of the national team, is in Doha to encourage the national team in the playoffs. We talked with him, right on his scale in Madrid. His successes, which are already part of the sentimental memory of the fan, will accompany the ‘Blanquirroja’ in such a crucial meeting. “I never imagined that after a few years, my songs would become what they are now”, reflect.

‘Cause I believe in you’ it was the first one he composed for the national team. The lyrics, as he himself says, flowed immediately, wrapped in his most soccer-loving feelings and memories of him. “’Because I believe in you’ was born overnight. I was in a clinic room with my 3-year-old son who had hives and Óscar Avilés calls me and tells me that I am going to visit the national team the next day, but that I have to bring a song. So right then and there I started to think and in five minutes I already had the choir”. As simple as it sounds. In each sentence, Marco Romero revealed his love for the country and football. The next morning he was already singing the song in La Videna.

Despite the popularity that this song enjoys today, at the beginning it was not so much like that. Romero composed it in 2013, in the most turbulent times of the Bicolor, where the idyll of these days was unlikely. Romero takes with humor the fact that at that time some blamed him for the poor results. “At that time, Peru did not beat anyone. The song came out and was beaten, they blamed me for the fact that Peru did not qualify for the World Cup at that time with (Sergio) Markarián”. Time did its job and now the song sounds in all corners of the country. For Marco Romero this first song marked the beginning of those that came later. In ‘Because I believe in you’ he empowered the team and the fan. “It’s a song to show them that we believed in them no matter what.”

His second song ‘We Peruvians have arrived’ It was much more thought out. Written for that long-awaited moment when Peru qualified for the World Cup in Russia after 36 years. “For me it is a song that announces that we Peruvians have reached the World Cup and now who is going to stop us, and there is no one who can do it because we already have enough conviction to do things.” Perhaps this is the least popular, but Romero believes that once Peru gets its place in the World Cup in Qatar, it will have an opportunity to resonate among the fans.

His third and last composition is ‘Go, Peru’, that has another meaning but that follows this path of faith and hope. He did it together with her manager and friend Gonzalo Calmet. “This song is now that I already believe in you, they follow you wherever you go, wherever you go, let’s go Peru”, He says. This song was composed in 2020 before the pandemic. Marco wasn’t thinking of writing anything at that moment and Calmet appeared with the light on. In 10 minutes they already had the choir and in two hours the song was finished. The following week they presented it at La Videna and it became the song of the fan on the way to Qatar.

For Marco Romero that these songs have become anthems of the Peruvian fans is an honor and an overflowing happiness. “When you write a song, of course you want people to know it, it makes you excited, but I never imagined that they would get to where they are today”, comment excitedly.

From today, Saturday, Marco Romero is in Doha to leave the throat, like dozens of compatriots. “Reaching the playoffs has not been easy, but we know that the effort will be worth it, that we will qualify and that we will return to Peru with the enormous joy of being in the World Cup again.” Romero will stay in Qatar until June 14, where after the game he will take the opportunity to get to know a little about the Arab country and record some images for his next video clip.