Francesco Totti: A humble legend

Francesco Totti made his professional debut on this day 28 years ago. On 28 March 1993 he came of the bench to record the first of 786 games he would play for the club.

Even though it’s been four years since Totti stopped playing professionally, he is still a shining light for the Italian capital club. It’s not common to see top players spend their entire career at a single club but Francesco is one of those. He eventually retired at the age of 40 after playing 786 games for the club. He was also a member of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning side.

Fans' favourite forever (©AFP)

But it’s not only his loyalty to the Giallorossi that made him so remarkable. He was a hell of a player.

He was renowned for his creative skills and his vision, and he was a formidable goalscorer. He is the second-highest scorer of all time in the Italian League with 250 goals, and is the sixth-highest scoring Italian in all competitions. At Roma, Fancesco won one Serie A title in 2000/01 and twice won the Coppa Italia. He was the youngest club captain in the history of Serie A.

'The Prince of Rome' played 58 times for the Italian national team, recovering from serious injuries to be an important member of the team that won the World Cup in 2006. Despite a lack of match practice during three months out of action, Francesco was named as a member of the 2006 World Cup squad and played in all seven games for Italy, including the first 61 minutes of the final against France. He played the entire tournament with metal plates and screws in his ankle that had not been removed following surgery.

Totti’s loyalty wasn’t only to his club and country. He was never a cliche, he wasn't a Latin-lover who only dated models. He has been married to Ilary Blasi since 2005. They’ve got three kids and were never involved in any scandals. The family usually goes on holiday in Sabaudia near Rome, not only to faraway expensive destinations.

When things got serious Totti knew where to stand. In 2007 Lazio fan Gabriele Sandri was killed by the police, Totti went to his funeral and hugged Sandri’s parents surrounded by hundreds of Lazio ultras, the people who have never liked him while he was playing for the rival team.

The Tottis (©AFP)

The legendary Diego Armando Maradona once said that Totti was the best football player he has ever seen in his life. At this point, Totti replied “After this sort of praise, I can quit” and that’s what he did on the following week, in May 2017.

Despite serving as a club director at Roma following the end of his playing career, Totti would leave his position because he felt he was being overlooked while people in higher positions were making damaging decisions for the club. After all these years, Francesco is just a die-hard Roma supporter who was blessed with talent and lucky enough to represent it on the pitch for over two decades.