Despite speculations surrounding his future as to whether he will retire at the end of the current season Francesco Totti, 40 will forever remain in the hearts of football fans of Italy’s Capital club, AS Roma should he call time on his footballing career.
Totti who has spent his entire football career in one club side, AS Roma often referred to as Re di Roma (The King of Rome), is the top goalscorer amongst currently active players in Serie A, and the second-highest scorer of all time in Italian league history with 250 goals; he also holds the record for the most goals scored in Serie A while playing for a single club.
Totti began to play youth team football at the age of 8 and in 1989 one of Roma’s youth coaches, Gildo Giannini, persuaded his parents to let him join the Roma youth squad and that is where the story starts.
He started as a left winger before moving to a more central role as a second striker. On 31 October 1998, Totti became the official team captain, and the youngest Serie A club captain ever at the age of 22, inheriting the armband from Aldair.
He would go on to win Caps for the National team as well as winning almost every trophy available to the club except the UEFA Champions League. He was also in the Italian team that won the 2006 World Cup against France.
But one thing that stands out about Totti is his continued loyalty. His love for the City in an age where money and trophies comes before the love of club for most players.
In 2003 he admitted he nearly joined Real Madrid. Speaking on his 40th birthday on Tuesday, Totti said he had come “very close” to moving to the Spanish side, but the Roma captain added that he does not regret for a minute turning down the opportunity.
“I was about to go there in 2003, even if it’s not true that I was in Spain,” Totti told Sky Sport Italia. “But then my heart, my friends and the family helped me reflect on it, and fortunately I am still here to tell the tale.
“And then when there were problems with the penultimate contract I signed, I really thought about changing club.”
This weekend Roma faces Lazio and this could be his last ever Rome derby in his 25 years of service to the club he once said about that “I’ve cheated on all the girlfriends I’ve ever had but I would never cheat on Rome”
Francesco Totti celebrates after scoring during A Roma derby AS Roma vs Lazio on January 11, 2015
AS Roma’s forward Francesco Totti celebrates after scoring a goal during the Italian Serie A football match between AS Roma and Sampdoria on September 26, 2012 at the Olympic stadium in Rome. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/GettyImages)
And Nike will be celebrating the moment with him and have made for the occasion a custom Tiempo Totti X Roma boots.
The boot’s features include
- Upper crafted in soft leather in a gold colourway, in honour of Totti’s achievements for AS Roma and his country
- Personalised with ‘TOTTI’ on the heel counter, the upper features the names of the player’s three children, Cristian, Chanel and Isabel, in his own handwriting
- Signature elongated tongue feature “Aeterno” on the inside, whilst the outside is adorned with the Roman numeral “X” in reference to the player’s number 10 jersey, as well as the city’s ancient history
- Insole reflects colours of AS Roma and ‘TottiXRoma’ appears in gold above the specially created crest
Credit: Twitter | Totti
Hopefully, he scores with these boots. Long Live the King of Roma
