Forty years to be completed at the end of the month. Twenty-five years in Serie A, twenty-three years in goals. And yet, to see him yesterday, Francesco Totti he looked anything but a dying player. A player to manage, of course, who it is unthinkable to let play every minute of every match, but in any case a player who still has leg and who, above all, has so much quality in his feet as to be capable of distilling forty-five minutes of football at very high levels.
After an abundant hour of suspension due to the storm that fell on Rome and the Olimpico stadium, Spalletti decided to change the game by fielding his captain, a lockpick with a double meaning: technical and emotional. As always, seeing his number 10 was enough for the Roman public to emotionally return to a game that had taken a bad turn, after the one-two signed by the wild Muriel and Quagliarella.
With Totti on the field it was another Rome. The number 10 showed up between the lines, looking for the ball and finding "his" holes from him. The first Dzeko he wasted it, the second one didn't, bringing the game back to a draw. Then there was the show by Viviano, who saved the parable and the less parable, until capitulating at the last second in front of the penalty coldly transformed by the Giallorossi Captain, who in forty-five minutes brought a topic destined to become topical act as a background for the entire Roma season: is this really Totti's last year?
Looking at it today, one would say no. Roma's ten was quite clear on the subject on the microphones at the end of the game, confirming that he didn't really want to say enough: “How am I living this last year as a footballer? I live it serenely and every day, with my mind free. Then if i'm like this why should i stop?".
A legitimate question. A Totti distillate is worth more than many whole players and can still direct matches. Also Spalletti, considered by many, in Rome, as the captain's "enemy", opens up the possibility of another year: "I see these plays every day, but it is clear that they must always be placed in an overall reasoning. Totti for me if he trains like now he can continue playing".
A summary of the situation is the one made by Del Piero last night on Sky Sport. The other last big 10 of our football explained that today's players live longer than a few years ago because their physical condition is treated better, starting with nutrition. The story between Totti, Spalletti and Roma, therefore, can continue happily even after the age of 40, provided, however, that a perfect balance is found between the parties involved. In the end, the question that will accompany the entire Roma season is this: will it be possible to find him?
