Boiled? Not at all. A few minutes in the match against Cesena were enough for Francesco Totti to become the best scorer ever with the same shirt, that of As Roma, which he has been wearing for almost 19 years. Second consecutive double, after the one scored against Chievo, and 211th goal in 486 games in Serie A, all for yellow and red: after Gunnar Nordahl, Pupone also confirmed himself as the first goalscorer in the game and the fifth ever (third Italian). In the viewfinder now is Josè Altafini and his 216 goals, but given the newfound youth of the Roma captain, there shouldn't be too many problems.
And while the Italian-Brazilian takes it badly and mulls over his career ("I could have done much more because one year I went back to play in Brazil and then I took very few penalties"), Totti even contemplates the possibility of catching up with Silvio Piola at 274: “I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I think by the end of my career I will succeed. I still have two and a half years left, so…”.
The numbers, the self-confidence and the newfound competitive form (thanks also to the feeling achieved with the coach Luis Enrique, who with his preparation and his game plan is enhancing the 35-year-old captain): these are the three aces up his sleeve by Francesco Totti, who could do even hypothesize a sensational return to the national team in view of Euro 2012. Prandelli in a Rai sports broadcast launched more than one opening: “At the end of the championship we will evaluate the physical conditions of the players. We started the season with a project, but if there are players with great personalities in good condition they will be taken into consideration."
Meanwhile, today there is Juve, in the Italian Cup. The Giallorossi record holder will find his longtime friend-rival Alex Del Piero, who is also the die-hard flag of his team. Certainly less in shape than his Roman colleague, and also less taken into consideration by the coach, but Pinturicchio also has some pretty good numbers: absolute record of goals (285) and appearances (681) with the same shirt, counting all the competitions that, with the black and white shirt, he won them all, scoring at least once in every tournament played, from the Italian Cup to the Intercontinental.
Tonight the two could meet again for the umpteenth time. To pass the round of the cup, to demonstrate once again that they are there and, why not, to snatch a trip to Poland at the beginning of June in extremis.
