Totti turns 40, but for Roma he is still like 20
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.
Today 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 the 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 fairy tale 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 March 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. Totti is unlikely to challenge Silvio Piola’s all-time Serie A record of 274 league goals, which included over 100 for Lazio.
Two days before his birthday, Totti hit his 250th league goal, beating Joe Hart for the second time in two years having scored the leveller in a 1-1 draw against Manchester City in 2015 to become the oldest scorer in the Champions League at 38 and three days.