We celebrate Francesco Totti’s 40th birthday by celebrating his five best moments.
5) A star is born
A 17-year-old Francesco Totti began to play regularly as a second striker under then-manager Carlo Mazzone, earning plenty of praise along with the nickname Il Bimbo d’Oro or ‘The Golden Boy’. His first strike in a Roma shirt came in the opening round of the 1994-95 season, scoring his side’s only goal in a 1-1 home draw with Foggia.
4) “He’s never scored in England, has he?”
In Roma’s return to the Champions League in the 2014-15 season, they were consequently and lucklessly placed in the tournament’s metaphorical ‘group of death’ along with CSKA Moscow, Bayern Munich and English champions Manchester City.
City’s Twitter account tweeted that they could not wait to host a legend like Totti, but jokingly asked: “He’s never scored in England, has he?”
Sure enough, Er Pupone equalised for Roma and earned them a 1-1 draw in Manchester, overtaking Ryan Giggs as the oldest goalscorer in Champions League history.
3) Big men don’t cry – or do they?
Towards the end of last season, Totti was caught in a very public row with manager Luciano Spalletti. Totti wanted to continue to play the following season but contract negotiations had stalled. Roma were also caught in a battle to secure a Champions League spot at the end of the year, and in April, while at home to Torino, hit a roadblock.
I Giallorossi found themselves trailing Torino 2-1 in the 85th minute.
Enter Francesco Totti.
Roma’s favourite son scored seconds after replacing Seydou Keita in the 86th minute, before scoring a penalty three minutes later to give his side a 3-2 win, even reducing many Romanisti around the world to tears in a truly special performance.
2) World domination
In February 2006, Italy’s World Cup hopes took a dashing turn for the worst when Totti fractured his leg and damaged ligaments. He recovered in time to play a pivotal role in Italy’s triumph in the tournament.
He gave four assists and scored one goal during the tournament to help Italy to their fourth World Cup title, and was named in the tournament’s 23-man all-star team.
1) What could be better than winning a World Cup?
To many, there are not many achievements higher than helping their country win a World Cup.
Unless, of course, you are Francesco Totti and are an icon in your city.
Under Fabio Capello in the 2000-01 Serie A season, he was part of one of football’s greatest ever attacking trios.
In the final round of the season, he, along with Vincenzo Montella and Gabriel Batistuta, gave Roma a 3-1 win, and their third Scudetto – their first since 1983.
Here is a highlight package from the game with some classic Italian commentary.
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