The following is not meant to be the classic piece on the numbers of the Roma player. The phrases, the words you are going to read are simply the sensations of a Romanist abandoned to the idea of a farewell to football played by Francesco Totti and to no longer see your captain step on the playing field. The idea of no longer hearing those two magical words from the speaker or the commentator: Francesco Totti.
The debut of a predestined
Here we are, the day has come. That moment that you initially ignore because so much "it will never arrive», but then suddenly you find yourself in front of it. And, like millions of fans, the lump in the throat is getting tighter and tighter. Today at 18pm the referee will blow your whistle for your last 90 minutes as a footballer. There is no championship at stake, but a second place that will allow the your Rome to go directly to the next one Champions League. An important milestone, but one that (as a fan) I would barter without hesitation for the possibility of seeing you still play. Because this match will mark the end of an era that began in the distant past 28 March 1993. That day the coach Boshkov he threw you into the fray at 16 in the final minutes of an anonymous Brescia-Roma. A few stops, passes and a couple of feints to mark the debut with your favorite team.
Then the entry on the scene of Charles Mazzone who, from day one, believed in your potential by making you what you have become. Not many years ago, when you were crumbling record after record, good Carletto defined you il his greatest football success.
Years and years to carve out space, to let anyone know the Francesco Totti footballer, up to that point 17 June 2001, the day of the championship. Scudetto won as a protagonist with the number 10 on his shoulders and the captain's armband. A lot of stuff, also because in Rome you don't win often, quite the contrary.
From then on it was all a crescendo: the near-miss golden ball, the record of appearances, goals, the rivalry with Lazio. I spent every derby waiting for your goliardic celebrations, your shirts teased. And then the spoons, the press conferences, the interviews with Costanzo, but above all the love for your shirt.
The myth Francesco Totti
I still remember every single game of the 2005/06 season. That year there were the 11 wins in a row, Calciopoli and your terrible injury. In a quiet Empoli-Roma defender Vanigli entered hard from behind. Rupture of the fibula and 6-8 months of stop, this in the year of the world championships. But after an operation and a lot of physiotherapy, you managed to cut the time in half. Between doubts and reporters who called you finished, you went to take the cup in Berlin as a starter. Not bad for someone in a wheelchair (a term used by the newspapers at the time).
Subsequently other records, some trophies, many missed championships and some controversies. Because in Italy, but especially in Rome, the bullshit they are stronger than the truth. And the name of Francesco Totti has always been fertile ground for every journalist.
But you always played in advance, proudly hoisting the flag ofself-irony. They've always labeled you stupid and ignorant, as if you needed a degree to play football. And instead of getting angry, suing and so on, you did a series of gags to make fun of yourself. Just like the jokes about the carabinieri, but with the character of Francesco Totti. I have been proud of those books and tapes for years, as well as the DVDs dedicated to you. But it was one thing to see them knowing that you would play on Sunday anyway. Another, however, will be doing it with the knowledge that your time as a player is now over. Twenty-five years of career lived intensely with their favorite team. And to those who say that you have won little in your career, well, maybe that's true. But your name, unlike others, will remain forever in the history of world football.
Thank you captain for making me fall in love with football and Roma. Thank you for letting me witness theit was by Francesco Totti.