Even at 40, Totti spellbinds Roma
MILAN: As hard as he tries, Roma coach Luciano Spalletti is unlikely to convince fans this week that Francesco Totti is just another player for the Serie A giants.
On Tuesday, Totti turns 40 and the one-club man who is in his 25th and likely last season with the ‘Giallorossi’ (Yellow and Reds) is still, when he gets the chance, producing magic.
“For me, he’s been the top player in Italy for the past 25 years,” said Sinisa Mihajlovic, whose Torino side upset Totti’s pre-birthday party celebrations by beating Roma 3-1 in Turin on Sunday.
“He’s one of the best ever. It’s amazing to see what he can still do with a ball.”
Known as the ‘Golden Boy’ as a precociously-gifted teen, and revered as the ‘King of Rome’ throughout a storied career that saw Totti, if not his underachieving club, rise to the top, fans expect a fairytale ending this season.
It is over 23 years since Totti made his Roma debut in the final minutes of a 2-0 win at Brescia in 1993. And his latest milestone serves as a reminder of how Totti has evolved, adapted to and excelled in a changing game during some of the wonder years of Italy’s top flight.
“He is an example for us all and someone we all look up to,” said Cristiano Ronaldo last February as Real Madrid prepared to face Roma in the Champions League.
“If you play at the level he does, it’s good for him, for football and also for the children, because we give them the idea that football has no limits.”
“I want four or five Tottis in this team,” Spalletti said after he came off the bench to provide an assist and then score the winner from the spot in a 3-2 win over Sampdoria last week.