GIALLOROSSI YORKSHIRE BLOG
Francesco Totti was always destined to break records for Roma. His longevity and technical ability meant he would achieve several landmarks that others couldn't match.
Over the course of his lengthy career, he set many records that will stand the test of time, some unlikely to ever be broken. His records weren't only about Roma though; he set new highs for Italian football, and even European football as a whole. He managed to equal some landmarks, such as Roberto Baggio and Alberto Gilardino's tally of scoring against 38 different teams in Serie A, and Paolo Maldini's record of playing in the most consecutive Serie A seasons, 25. But often, Totti went above and beyond what others had achieved. Here are ten records he holds outright. Roma's all-time leading appearance maker Totti represented his only club a remarkable 786 times. He was captain for over half of those games in his extraordinary 25-season spell. The previous record was held by legendary defender Giacomo Losi, who represented the club 455 times. Totti overtook Losi in 2008, and went on to smash the record. Playing for nearly ten more years beyond breaking the record, Totti set a total that will be practically impossible to beat. Roma's all-time top scorer No player in history has scored even half the number of goals for Roma that Francesco Totti has. Roberto Pruzzo was a goal machine for Roma in the 1980s, but Totti eclipsed his achievements by a huge margin. In total, Totti scored 307 goals in all competitions for Roma - more than the club's two next highest scorers, Pruzzo and Amedeo Amadei, combined. It's another record of his that will surely stand the test of time. Roma's all-time top scorer in UEFA competitions Totti certainly turned up for the big occasions. Despite Roma's fairly inconsistent record in Europe over the course of his career, Totti was always among the goals. He scored 38 goals for the club across the Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League, including a goal against Real Madrid on his UCL debut in 2001, showing he could handle the pressure against the biggest opponents. Most goals for a single Serie A club Only Silvio Piola scored more goals in Serie A than Totti. However, the crucial difference is that Piola scored for several clubs, whereas all of Totti's 250 league goals came in a Roma shirt. It's a figure that goes to show just how much Totti gave to the colours he loved. Closest to Totti in the list of players to score the most Serie A goals for one club is ex-Roma striker Gunnar Nordahl, who notched 210 times for AC Milan. Totti beat Nordahl's record in 2012, and set the bar even higher. Most consecutive seasons with a goal in Serie A When Totti scored against Sampdoria towards the start of the 2016-17 season, his last campaign as a player, it meant he had scored at least one goal in the last 23 consecutive seasons. His first goal had come in September 1994, and after that, he never stopped finding the back of the net. The penalty against Sampdoria was his penultimate Serie A goal, but he made sure to have an impact right until his final few weeks on the pitch. Youngest club captain of a Serie A side When Aldair vacated the Roma captaincy in 1997, there was only really one candidate. Totti only had six seasons of Serie A experience under his belt, but he was the man to lead the side forward on the pitch, the epitome of everything it meant to be a Romanista. At the age of 22, Totti became the youngest ever club captain of a Serie A side, and kept hold of the armband right until his retirement nearly 20 years later. Most penalties scored in Serie A Totti didn't just break records for Roma, but for Italian football too. He is the record holder of the most penalties scored in Serie A - and he achieved it in a dramatic way, too. Roma were playing Torino on 20th April 2016, and were losing when the veteran was brought on. Within five minutes he turned the game on its head. He had already bagged the equaliser after latching onto a free kick, before he remarkably won the game with a penalty. It was the 69th spot kick he had scored in Serie A, overtaking Roberto Baggio's record of 68. Totti scored two more penalties before the end of his career to set the bar at 71. All-time leading scorer in Serie A Rome derbies This is another prime example of Totti choosing the perfect occasion to break a record. Roma were trailing 2-0 in the Derby against Lazio at half time. They needed two goals to salvage something from the game, and coincidentally, Totti also needed two goals to equal Dino Da Costa's record of being the all-time leading scorer in the Derby Della Capitale. Those goals would also make Totti the outright top scorer in Serie A derbies, taking his tally to 11. The script was written, and Totti delivered. After pulling one back early in the second half, Totti also clinched an equaliser, diving for the ball at the backpost and volleying it across goal and into the back of the net. He grabbed a mobile phone, turned his back to the Curva Sud, and took the most iconic selfie in football history. Oldest scorer in Champions League Totti was still contributing so much in the twilight of his career, that he actually broke this record twice. He initially broke it in a group stage match against Manchester City in 2014, chipping Joe Hart to equalise in a 1-1 draw, three days after he had turned 38. Then, three weeks later, he extended the record in a win over CSKA Moscow. His free kick meant he had scored in the Champions League aged 38 years and 59 days. Oldest Roma player in Serie A Serie A is a league renowned for the longevity of its players, with it not uncommon for players to play late into their thirties. Totti went beyond that. When he stepped onto the turf for the final time against Genoa on 28th May 2017, he wrote his name in the record books as Roma's oldest ever player. He was 40 years, eight months and one day old when he played for his beloved team for one last time. Once again, this was another record he had broken several times. The next oldest Roma player in the league was Morgan De Sanctis, whose final game came at the age of 38 years, eight months and three days. Totti eclipsed him by two whole years. Many of these records may never be broken. Totti's influence and contribution went far beyond what the average player gives. When you consider how many more goals he scored than Pruzzo, or how many more times he played for the club than Daniele De Rossi or Giacomo Losi, two long-serving one-club men, it makes you realise there will probably never be another player like Totti. A player who prided himself on high standards, and while he may not have won as many trophies as he deserved to, he certainly has the figures to prove how good he was.
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For someone who only played for one club across his entire career, Totti certainly built up an impressive array of admirers.
While many neutrals from different parts of the world were blind to just how good he was, dozens of famous footballing faces noticed his talent. Teammates, opponents, or even legends who had played in a different era; it seems like anyone who was anyone in football had something positive to say about Totti. Here are ten quotes from football legends on their appreciation of Totti. 1. "Francesco Totti is the king of Rome. He is and will be the best player I ever saw!" Diego Maradona 2. "I liked Francesco straight away. Not only as a player but also as a person. He is a phenomenon, a rare player. It seems as if when he was born, the heavenly father said: 'Go down there and play football and that's it.' And he did what he was prescribed to do." Luigi Riva 3. "Totti has the technique of a South American and deserved to win a few more trophies with his Roma team. In fact, he also deserved to win the Ballon d’Or. He is an extraordinary player. When he started, nobody thought he would go on to become so great. In Italy it’s not easy for kids to come up through the youth academy and impose themselves on the first team, but he managed it and became the symbol of Roma. Totti manages to think with his feet and would’ve done great things with my Roma side in 1982-83." Paulo Roberto Falcao 4. "Totti is always strong, and as a Roman, fights for the team. He makes you feel great, and was a fantastic teammate. He has done a lot of brilliant things for Roma and for the Italian national team. I have always rooted for him." Cafu 5. "I have a lot of respect for Totti. When you talk about Roma, you think about Francesco Totti, and when you talk about Francesco Totti, you think about Roma. I’ve had to battle so many times against him. I have maximum respect for him." Thierry Henry 6. "He is the best player with whom I have ever worked. He could have won several Ballons d'Or had he left Roma for Barcelona or Manchester United. I have also worked with [Frank] Lampard and [Alessandro] Del Piero, but Francesco is the better player." Claudio Ranieri 7. "Who are the best five Italian players? Totti, Totti, Totti, Totti, Totti." Zdenek Zeman 8. "Francesco is not only a formidable player – a "fuoriclasse" as you say in Italy – but also a man with great qualities outside of football. For me he is one of the very best players in the history of the sport." Rudi Garcia 9. "Every player has some genius, but there's only one Van Gogh, and there is nobody like Totti." Giovanni Trapattoni 10. "Totti is the best player in the world." Pele It's the 21st September, 2016. Roma are playing against Crotone, and Francesco Totti has been handed a rare start by Luciano Spalletti, just under a week before his 40th birthday.
Leading the line against the Serie A newcomers is Edin Dzeko, who has already scored two goals in the early stages of the league season. The powerful striker is about to add a third. Roma have taken a two-goal lead into half-time, thanks to strikes from Stephan El Shaarawy and Mohamed Salah. The team have, as expected, enjoyed most of the possession and chances, and look all set to bounce back to winning ways, three days after their loss to Fiorentina. However, nothing is certain in football, so a good second half performance is essential. Three minutes into the second half, and Roma have started comfortably. They have possession deep in their own half, with Crotone sitting back. Leandro Paredes receives the ball just outside his own penalty area and looks up to see his captain, Totti. Il Capitano is stood in his own half, adjacent to the centre circle. Paredes feeds him the ball, and Totti goes on to show that his football brain is still performing at its maximum level. Without even looking, Totti curls the ball around his shoulder first time, playing a long aerial ball forward. His 50-yard pass falls straight into the path of Dzeko. The Crotone keeper rushes off his goalline, but there's nothing he can do as Dzeko strokes it over his head and into the back of the net. What a combination. Within five seconds of Totti receiving the ball in his own half, Roma had scored their third of the game. Totti didn't need to see where Dzeko was; he knew his teammate's position by instinct. He only needed one touch to play the number nine in with a magnificent first time pass. As the saying goes, talent hits a target no-one else can hit, but genius hits a target no-one else can see. Francesco Totti, at the age of 39, was still a genius. Totti made the goal out of nothing. In an age where build up play is everything and teams are scared to take risks, Roma's loyal captain bucked the trend with a sensational piece of creativity. He had a telepathic understanding of where Dzeko was, and played a pass that only a few others in world football have the ability to. Totti made the goal, but nothing should be taken away from Dzeko's finish either. He showed the calmness and composure that would later come to define him. But let's not forget that this was only the fifth game of the season. In the previous campaign, Dzeko had wasted a lot of chances, ultimately being dubbed a flop. That season, he turned the tables and went on to break all sorts of records, but at that point, he still hadn't built up a rhythm. This was the watershed moment, where he became a lethal finisher once again. Totti and Dzeko, two phenomenal footballers, had combined to create a beautiful goal. Number nine and number 10, both experienced professionals who have contributed to hundreds of goals in their careers. What a partnership this could be. In fact, this wasn't the first time they had linked up to create a goal. The goal against Crotone was almost a carbon copy of a goal that Dzeko had scored in pre-season, just two months earlier, against Terek Grozny. Again, Totti drifted back towards the half way line to pick up the ball, and again, he whipped it around the corner first time. Again, the ball landed right at Dzeko's feet, and again a goal was the outcome. The ex-Manchester City man used a different type of finish, sidefooting it past the keeper, and Totti's pass was a little shorter than the one he would play against Crotone, but other than that, it was virtually the same goal. And so, the Totti-Dzeko combination had its explanation. This intelligent partnership had come from the experience of playing together and understanding each other's movement. Crucially, it was about having two players with extraordinary skill levels to make such moves effective. Totti and Dzeko could create a lot of goals for Roma. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see as much of that partnership that season as some would've liked. While Dzeko went on to score a massive 39 goals that season, Totti didn't start another game in Serie A. Consequently, his assist for Dzeko in the Crotone game was the last time he would ever set up his Bosnian teammate. Playing time restricted, Totti was robbed of the opportunity of creating more goals in his final season as a professional footballer. Even though Dzeko didn't struggle without Totti, the combination could still have been used more often. In some tight games that season, Roma struggled to break defences down, but Spalletti was still reluctant to use Totti. Totti who, in that same season, had created a goal out of nothing within five seconds. He understood Dzeko perfectly, and the link-up between the pair could have seen Roma turn some draws into wins, or losses into draws - or even second place into first place. Totti was still capable of making goals for Roma, but ultimately, Spalletti decided not to take advantage of this. Roma were just four points away from the Scudetto that year, and who knows whether or not more involvement of Totti could have changed the scenario to one where Roma won the title. Likewise, after Totti's retirement, goals have sometimes been hard to come by. Meanwhile, someone who could still create them with ease is watching in the stands as a director. Francesco Totti and Edin Dzeko are two forwards who have played at the very top level. They have both made their own pieces of history for this club, and have done things many others can only dream of. It's just a shame that their paths didn't cross sooner, and we didn't get to enjoy more of their combinations for Roma. Francesco Totti has scored more goals for Roma than any other player in Serie A, the Champions League and the Europa League. He's had an impact on every stage he has graced, every competition he has played in. The only competitions he's played in without becoming Roma's top scorer in are the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana. He scored 18 goals in Italy's main domestic competition, falling two shy of the 20 Roberto Pruzzo notched in the tournament while playing for the club. Meanwhile, he only scored once in the Supercoppa. Everything else, and Totti is without comparison. Every journey begins somewhere though, and he was keen to make statements of intent from a young age. Here are the first goals he scored in every competition he played in for Roma. Serie A: 4/9/1994 v Foggia Totti's record-breaking goalscoring journey began at the age of 17, when he netted his first Roma goal against Foggia. The opponents that day were managed by a future Roma coach in Zdenek Zeman, who Totti would later score 38 goals under. However, before all that, Totti had to get off the mark, and did so with a poacher's finish. He arrived at the ball from a knock down, firing past the keeper with his left foot. It was perhaps symbolic that his first ever senior goal was scored with his weaker foot, as he would later go on to score many of his most famous strikes with the same boot. This goal was shot straight, like an arrow, and was the first of a record-breaking 250 goals for one club in Serie A. Coppa Italia: 22/9/94 v Fiorenzuola It didn't take long for Totti to add to his tally, as he scored his second goal for Roma just a couple of weeks later. This time, it was the Coppa Italia in which he left his mark. By the time Totti scored, over an hour into the second leg, Roma already had one foot in the next round, but that didn't stop Totti's hunger for goals. He made sure to leave an impression on the game with a goal that highlighted his forward thinking and nimble dribbling ability. Totti received the ball in an inside forward position on the left, quickly turning to beat his marker. Facing goal, he then had one more defender to beat before he could shoot. He effortlessly stepped inside, leaving the defender in a heap on the floor. It was then a calm sidefooted finish to beat the keeper at his near post. UEFA Cup: 17/10/95 v Eendracht Aalst The following season, Totti scored his first ever goal in European football, just over 15 minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 4-0 win over Belgians Eendracht Aalst. Once again, while still a teenager, he showed his genius at creating an opportunity. Totti used trickery to beat defenders, opening up new spaces and taking three opponents out of the game with his understanding of the area. It was a crowded box but Totti knew his way through it, and was able to pick out the bottom corner. Supercoppa Italiana: 19/8/01 v Fiorentina Months after lifting the Serie A trophy for the first and only time in his career, Totti made his debut in the Supercoppa, where Roma faced off against 2001 Coppa Italia winners Fiorentina. Roma won the match 3-0, with Totti putting the icing on the cake with the final goal. Vincent Candela had broken forward from the back, playing a neat one-two with Totti. The French wing-back drove down the centre of the pitch, unleashing a powerful shot from distance. Fiorentina goalkeeper Giuseppe Taglialatela could only parry the ball, and Totti was alert for the follow up. The number 10 was too quick for the keeper as he latched onto the loose ball and chipped it delicately over him and into the net. Scroll to 15:25 of the video below to see the goal. Champions League: 11/9/01 v Real Madrid By the time Totti made his Champions League debut in 2001, he had already amassed 70 goals for Roma. When the chance came to represent his club on the biggest European stage, he grasped it with both hands, scoring against the previous season's semi-finalists, Real Madrid. Totti was not fazed by playing against one of the biggest clubs in the world, and although his second half penalty turned out to be just a consolation in a 2-1 loss, it showed he had the technical and psychological strength to perform at the very top level. When Roma won a penalty over midway through the second half, it was Totti who stepped up to take responsibility. Totti's effort from 12 yards left Iker Casillas dazed in the middle of the goal, as the Spanish goalkeeper didn't even move. Totti struck the ball powerfully into the bottom corner, rendering it practically impossible for Casillas to save. The goal can be seen from 3:00 of the following video. Europa League: 30/7/09 v Gent It took Totti just 55 minutes of his first game since the UEFA Cup rebranded as the Europa League in 2009 to net his first goal under the competition's new banner. In a third qualifying round tie against Gent, 32-year-old Totti scored a goal that would become typical of his later career. Roma won a free kick on the edge of the box, with Totti lining up a powerful shot. The ball was rolled to him by David Pizarro, and he hit it first time. The shot stayed low, rocketing under the keeper's body to give Roma an equaliser. The goal can be seen from 0:36 of the video below, and is proof that even in his later years, Totti was intent on breaking new ground. Today's dream Roma five-a-side team has been chosen by Menno, who picks a strong team with five of the best players Roma have had this century.
Name: Menno van Koppen Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Team: Like the force, a team needs to be in balance. For my five-a-side I therefore choose a goalkeeper, a defender, a defensive midfielder, an attacking midfielder and a striker. GK: Alisson Ramses Becker - This one is an easy pick: Alisson is by far the best goalkeeper Roma has ever had. Fantastic reflexes, great at coming off his goal line, skilled with his feet like a true Brazilian, dominant in the box and the exposure of a winner. I loved Alisson. Once following Roma you get used to seeing the best and most special players leave, but this one did particularly hurt. DF: Kostas Manolas - This was the hardest choice of the team. Roma has had so many great defenders over the years. Cafu, Aldair, Samuel, Marquinhos, Rüdiger, Castán and Mexès, a personal favourite of mine, to name only a few. Still I choose Manolas as an ode to the team that made us feel like champions for once after eliminating Barcelona last year. I had the privilege to be in the Olimpico that magical evening. That evening and my wedding were the happiest moments of my life: I was ecstatic and out of myself with joy, seeing the footage still gives me goosebumps all over my body. Grazie mille, Kostas, grazie mille. DM: Daniele De Rossi - Dani is indispensable for any Roma team. A natural born leader with a great tackle, excellent passing, fierce shot and not afraid to do the dirty work. A strong personality that reads the game excellent and guides the team. He is the skeleton in the body that is AS Roma. It makes me very sad Dani will probably end his career without a Scudetto: he deserves one. I hope he feels the World Cup title makes up for that loss. As you probably know, Dani has left his World Cup medal in the coffin of former national team kitman Pietro Lombardi to be buried with his body after he died. Let that affect you for a moment. What a beautiful personality. AM: Francesco Totti - I don’t see how anybody could afford to leave Totti out of the team: a thousand words are not enough to describe what he has meant and still means for AS Roma. For me personally he is the sole reason why I started following Roma in the first place and I am sure that accounts for a lot more people. His legacy is a part of Roma and Roma would not have been the same club today without him. The images of Totti in the stands that are shown several times every match nowadays, evoke strong feelings of melancholy and pride. SC: Gabriel Omar Batistuta - Pairing the brilliant insight and passing of Totti with an absolute world class striker was the stepping stone for our last Scudetto. What a finisher Batistuta was: a guarantee for goals. Signing Batistuta was the best answer Sensi could have given to the Scudetto Lazio won the season before, granting us the city bragging rights until this day. Want to submit your own Five-a-Side Friday team? Fill in the form on this link. Roma discovered their three group stage opponents for the Champions League last week, being drawn with Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen.
The Giallorossi will be hoping to recreate last season's impressive form on the European stage, and will fancy their chances of qualifying from the group. On paper, it looks easier than last year's group, which Roma still managed to win, but it does contain the current holders in Real Madrid and two tricky Eastern European opponents. Here's an in depth look at all three of Roma's Champions League opponents. Real Madrid Last season: Winners Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3-1 in the final courtesy of two spectacular goals by Gareth Bale. Karim Benzema had given them the lead after a mistake from Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius. Former Roma winger Mohamed Salah was forced off injured in the first half. To reach the final, Real emerged from a difficult group, which featured Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund and APOEL. In the knockout stages, they beat three domestic champions in PSG, Juventus and Bayern Munich. The quarter final against Roma's Italian rivals Juventus was particularly impressive, as Los Blancos demolished the Old Lady with a 3-0 scoreline. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a memorable overhead kick against the club he now represents. Key player: Luka Modric Following Cristiano Ronaldo's summer departure, there is now an opportunity for other stars to step into the spotlight and take the role of Real Madrid's main man. The most talented member of their squad is Luka Modric, the Croatian midfield genius who was voted as the best player in last season's competition. A gifted creative player, Modric is dangerous for any defence, with his exceptional ability at passing and shooting. Confident on the ball and capable of opening up defences, he will be a handful for each opponent he faces. This summer, he guided Croatia to the World Cup final for the first time in their history, winning the Golden Ball for his individual displays. The last meeting: 2018, ICC Real Madrid and Roma have already faced each other once this year, in a pre-season friendly as part of the International Champions Cup. Goals from Marco Asensio and Bale put Real 2-0 up, before Kevin Strootman pulled one back late on, with what turned out to be his last goal in a Roma shirt. In terms of the last competitive meeting, the two faced off in the Round of 16 of the 2015-16 Champions League. Despite a valiant effort from Luciano Spalletti's side, Real won both legs 2-0, curtailing Roma's adventure in the competition that year. The second leg was Francesco Totti's last ever appearance in the Champions League. CSKA Moscow Last season: Group stages CSKA Moscow placed third in Group A of the Champions League last season, finishing behind Manchester United and Basel but ahead of Benfica. As a result, they transferred to the Europa League, where they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Arsenal. In the UCL group stages, they did the double over Benfica, but lost both games against Manchester United. They failed to beat Basel at home, meaning they fell three points short of qualification for the knockout stages. Key player: Igor Akinfeev Captain and one-club man, goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev has protected CSKA's goal since 2003. With over 100 caps for Russia, the 32-year-old is an experienced presence and is still capable of upsetting powerful attackers. Last season, he kept 15 clean sheets from just 28 league games, including a highly commendable six in a row between September and October. The last meeting: 2014, Champions League Roma and CSKA Moscow were drawn together in the same group in the 2014-15 competition as well. Neither side made it out of the group that year, with Bayern Munich and Manchester City finishing ahead of them. The most recent meeting, in late November 2014, was the away leg for Roma, and it resulted in a 1-1 draw. Francesco Totti opened the scoring, but Vasili Berezutski equalised in the 90th minute. Ten weeks earlier, Roma had demolished the Russians at Stadio Olimpico with a 5-1 win. Gervinho scored a first half brace, with Juan Manuel Iturbe and Maicon ensuring Rudi Garcia's men went in at the break with a four goal advantage. Sergei Ignashevich scored an own goal early in the second half, before Ahmed Musa grabbed a consolation for the visitors with less than ten minutes to go. Viktoria Plzen Last season: Third qualifying round Viktoria Plzen failed to make the group stages last season after being knocked out in the third qualifying round. After drawing 2-2 with Romanian club Steaua Bucharest away, Viktoria were beaten 4-1 at home to consign them to the Europa League play-off round. They had more success in the Europa League, beating Cypriots AEK Larnaca in the play-offs and topping their group of Lugano, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and oddly enough, Steaua Bucharest, who had lost their Champions League play-off. Viktoria then overcame Partizan in the Round of 32, before a 3-2 aggregate loss to Sporting CP in the last 16. The Czech side are making their first appearance in the Champions League group stages since 2013-14, and only their second in history. Key player: Jan Kopic Kopic, 28, joined Viktoria from fellow Czech side Jablonec in 2015. Since then, he has made 122 appearances for the club, scoring 18 goals. A midfielder, he made his Czech Republic debut in 2014, and has since scored three goals for the national team. The number 10 scored eight goals for the club last season, second only to striker Michal Krmencik's 16. The last meeting: 2016, Europa League After Roma's failure to qualify for the group stages of the 2016-17 Champions League, Spalletti's side were placed in a Europa League group with Viktoria. The sides met on matchday one, a 1-1 draw in the Czech Republic. Diego Perotti gave Roma a fourth minute lead from the penalty spot, but experienced striker Marek Bakos quickly pulled the hosts level. At home, Roma were more convincing, sealing a 4-1 win over their opponents, with Edin Dzeko scoring a hat trick. The Bosnian forward opened the scoring after 11 minutes, with a sensational curled left-footed strike that he admitted could have been the best goal of his career up to that point. Martin Zeman (no relation to ex-Roma coach Zdenek) equalised shortly after, but Dzeko scored two more either side of an own goal in the second half to confirm Roma's status as group winners. Every Friday on Giallorossi Yorkshire, a Roma fan names their all-time dream Roma five-a-side team. Today's has been chosen by Laura, and sees one current Roma defender picked for the first time in this series.
Name: Laura Gibbs Location: Bedford, England Team: Tempted as I am to choose such legends as Giannini and Montella, perhaps foolishly, I feel I can't having not witnessed them in action. My baptism into to the Romanisti and indeed football itself, didn't come until April 2011 in the stands of the curva. So. Francesco Totti - How can he not be my striker? No other player could turn a match around from certain defeat to victory in a mere 4 minutes! As well as his obvious goal scoring talent he has the ability to read and control the game. The phrase "game changer" was invented for him. The only forward I need in my heavily defensive team. Daniele De Rossi - Who doesn't need a talented Roman defensive midfielder with a side order of an elbow in the face? Passionate, occasionally hot headed, severely underrated outside of Rome. Seeing the entire Italian defence fall apart when he was subbed off in the Euros is all the evidence I need. Aleksandar Kolarov - Easily the best signing of last summer. Steady, dependable with a touch of psycho simmering beneath the surface. The added bonus is that he's hated by Lazio fans! Lucas Digne - Two words... Come back! I was sorely disappointed Roma didn't sign him permanently. He was eager, always pushing forward but without letting his true position suffer, never seemed to put a foot wrong defensively and fitted perfectly with the team. Alisson Becker - Despite my soft spot for De Sanctis, it has to be Alisson after last season's performance. I doubt we'd have reached the Champions League without him. Also endearing is seeing the way he celebrates each goal, a real team player and a hugest loss to Roma. Every Friday on Giallorossi Yorkshire, a supporter chooses their dream five-a-side team made up of Roma players from across the years. Today's team has been selected by Stephen.
Name: Stephen Sweeney Location: Falkirk, Scotland Team: Goalkeeper: Morgan De Sanctis - Even when he wasn’t playing in his last years at the club, his energy and enthusiasm were fantastic – if there’s a goal celebration, you know he’s run 50 yards from the bench to pile on top. Defence: Walter Samuel - You need a master of the dark arts to defend your goal – Walter had all that and more. If you wanted to get past him, you had to be prepared to suffer! I considered Panucci, but I still haven’t forgiven him for scoring against Scotland in 2007… Midfield: David Pizarro - Did you ever see anyone dispossess him? The ball was stuck like glue to his feet, until he unleashed the killer pass. He would be absolute murder to play against in a 5-a-side. Forward: Antonio Cassano - It still feels like “What if…?” with Fantantonio – the combination with Totti was so good and so exciting, if he had stuck around, who knows what might have happened. The mighty 4-0 thrashing of Juve back in the day seems like a dream now. Also, he scored on my first ever visit to the Stadio Olimpico in 2002, as did... Forward: Francesco Totti - It might provide more variety if we were banned from picking him in this side! There were times in his final playing years when just his presence in the stadium could lift the team, so just having him on the bench would be an advantage. But how could you pass up the chance to see him play one more time? The flicks, the back-heels, the no-look passes, the sheer overwhelming joy that comes from seeing him score. He’s in the team for sure! Today's team on Five-a-Side Friday, where supporters choose their all-time dream Roma five-a-side team, has been chosen by a fellow Leeds-based fan.
Name: Kevin McDougall Location: Leeds, England Team: GK: Alisson Becker - As tempting as it is to go with someone with more service to the club, this comes down to Alisson genuinely being the best keeper Roma have had. Stops everything, and sweeps up too. DF: Aldair - "Pluto" stood out in my earliest memories of Football Italia in the 90s - amongst all the superstar strikers - for how elegantly he could defend and distribute the ball, and I imagine he could still fit in most teams now. A club legend, who tempted me to follow Roma rather than the more glamorous (at the time) clubs in the North. MF: Daniele De Rossi - First name on the sheet. Sure, he can defend, pass and shoot as well as anyone, but his sense of positional play, organisation and leadership are second to none. I could talk for hours about DDR but I'll stop here. Everybody knows the big man's value. MF: Damiano Tommasi - The minimum wage year and charity work add credence to his place as an all-round great guy, but there's more to him: tough but fair, ran for miles, intelligent, looked amazing... you'd want him on your team. A difficult (props to Perrotta, Conti, Pjanic) and partly sentimental choice, as he symbolises some amazing times at the Olimpico, but definitely a great player. FW: Francesco Totti - Nobody can seriously leave Totti out, right? Batistuta would probably be the best finisher that I can remember, but the memories of Spalletti's 4-6-0/false-nine campaign shine bright for me and push il capitano infinito into the forward role. Prime Totti given the freedom to go where he liked and score some ridiculous goals! Every Friday on Giallorossi Yorkshire, a Roma fan selects their all-time dream five-a-side team made up of Roma players. See who made today's team here.
Name: Mark Briggs Location: York, England Team: Alisson - His sweeping ability vital to a 5-a-side. Aldair - All round defensive ability at its purest. Cafu - Attacking/defensive flair, energy and stamina. Daniele De Rossi - Consummate midfielder, defensive nous & playmaker's vision. Gabriel Batistuta - pace, height, energy, hold up man, incredible shooting ability (almost went for Voeller but...) (Sub: Francesco Totti - The very name says it all.) |
samuel bannister
Founder and editor of Giallorossi Yorkshire, who is also a columnist for Roma's official website about the women's team. Categories
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