Francesco Totti at 40: the eternal man

The Eternal City has hosted some of the game’s all-time greats – among them Bruno Conti, Falcão, Giuseppe Signori and Giorgio Chinaglia – but none of them are greater than Roma’s current captain and symbol, Francesco Totti: a man who was born in 1976, joined the club in 1989, made his debut in 1993, has been their captain since 1998 and last scored for them on Sunday. He has been one of European football’s greatest talents and, on skill alone,
Totti is one of the finest players in the history of the sport.
What he has brought to Roma is unique and will be everlasting but, strangely enough, that romance may never have blossomed. Totti’s mother turned down a lucrative offer from Milan so that he could join his hometown club, a dream that was realised in 1989. As Totti puts it: “When you are a kid in Rome, there are only two possible choices: You are either red or blue. AS Roma or Lazio. But in our family, there was only one possible choice.” Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani saw Totti as one for the future – a player who would go on to join Fabio Capello’s invincible Milan team of the early 1990s – but they were left to wonder what might have been.
Like so many geniuses, his career is flawed: blotted by moments of madness. Controversy has followed Il Bimbo d’Oro (the Golden Boy) and his psyche remains one of the most intriguing and unpredictable in the game. But he’s still here: still giving match-winning performances and scoring memorable goals, still bringing hope to a city besieged with socio-economic and cultural challenges, still giving hope to the thousands of children who dream of becoming the next monument in Italian football, still keeping alive the romantic dream of the classic fantasista. He still relies on technique, vision and precision – much like he did on 28 March 1993, when he made his debut as a 16-year-old in an unremarkable 2-0 away victory against Brescia.
His genius lies in his three unrivalled skills: the ability to create something from nothing off either foot, his supreme, deadly finishing – which has brought him 306 Serie A goals – and his confidence (who can forget his Panenka against Holland at Euro 2000). His feet are natural – touching a ball and striking it perfectly with ease is second nature – but his mind is what separates him from the rest. He thinks ahead. He’s the enigma who has carried his hometown club for over two decades and won a World Cup along the way.
Some managers have tried to negate his influence. Luis Enrique notably paid the price. Not necessarily because he lost his job, but because Roma lacked invention, skill and unpredictability. Perhaps Fabio Capello best laid the blueprint on how to use Totti back in 2001: don’t stop using him. Make him the focal point of every attacking move and let him carry the burden.
His statistics are sublime: Totti has played more than half of his footballing career as a classic trequartista and yet he has managed to outscore great forwards such as Alessandro Del Piero, Roberto Baggio and Gabriel Batistuta. He scored his 250th goal in Serie A on Sunday – only Silvio Piola has more and he retired in 1954.
Who can forget Totti’s 113th strike, against Inter at the San Siro in 2005, when his majestic chip from outside the box sailed over a stranded Francesco Toldo? That goal, one of his personal favourites, is one of the greatest chips scored in calcio history. Sadly, having suffered a career-threatening injury a few months later, many thought they had seen the last of Totti at the very top of the game.
But his love for football helped him recuperate in time to be selected by Marcello Lippi for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where he played every match and – having contributed four assists and the crucial last-minute penalty against Australia in the second round – was one of the protagonists in the victorious Azzurri side. That was some comeback and his will to continue playing a decade later deserves nothing but respect.
At 40, he can’t drift around like he used to, especially in the channels, but his ability to find space in key areas ensures he remains one of the game’s most dangerous players. For a man who many considered to be past his best when Luis Enrique took charge in 2011, he has grown yet again.
People spend plenty of time asking Totti why he never left Roma in search of trophies? He replies: “Rome is my family, my friends, the people that I love. Rome is the sea, the mountains, the monuments. This club, this city, has been my life.”
But why would he ever move? He is the soul of Roma, lauded as their saviour and afforded hero status – and he loves the adulation. Roma was the ideal foil for him to find his way to superstardom. The relationship is of mutual benefit. Roma need their captain to galvanise the team and Totti needs a major stage to shine on – it’s not difficult to see why he remains motivated and hungry to carry on. Thankfully for the world of football, Totti’s mother made the right decision to turn Milan down when he was a child. He hasn’t looked back since.
He’s had offers. Real Madrid came and were politely ushered away. Manchester United tried their luck in 1999 and 2000 as Alex Ferguson spoke openly of his admiration for Totti’s talent. Perhaps his desire to turn away suitors and remain in Rome is what leaves some quarters of the English media from truly understanding him. But Totti will ultimately judge his career on what he’s given back to the Romans, who he calls “his people”.
Trophies are a bonus and the 2001 Scudetto will surely sit proudly alongside his European Golden Shoe in 2007 and World Cup winner’s medal. Factor in his five Italian Player of the Year awards and he will no doubt sleep easy.
The definition of success is subjective. Ask Alan Hansen and he’ll tell you it’s about the number of trophies you have in your cabinet. Ask Paolo Maldini or Steven Gerrard, however, and they might factor in the achievement of supporting, loving and playing for a great club for decades.
Totti has given more back to the people of Rome than any trophy can. He’s given them loyalty and hope – he has become a “monument”, as Lippi calls him. He’s given them the chance to live each game through a man who wandered the same streets as they did as boy. Most importantly, he’s kept their identity alive.
In an Italy where identity and social segregation has become an increasingly prominent and contentious topic, he’s united the people of various clubs and groups through his undoubted talent and application. And as he celebrates turning 40, he offers a wonderful glimpse into a bygone era of success at Roma and for the wider Italian game.