Francesco Totti: the captain who played 25 years for one club

Most great players leave. Francesco Totti did not. He came through Roma's youth team, played his first Serie A match at 16 and his last at 40, and in a career of 25 seasons never left. For a generation of Romans he was not a player who happened to play for the club. He was the club.

He was also an odd kind of star: a creator who scored, a striker who passed, a captain who could be reckless. The trophies were fewer than his talent might have brought elsewhere. The loyalty has little comparison in modern football.

The numbers

The curve peaks in 2006–07 and again in 2009–10, with a long plateau between them. After 2010–11 the bars shrink as he played less, but he kept scoring until his last season.

A boy in the first team

Totti made his Serie A debut on 28 March 1993, aged 16, in a 2–0 win at Brescia, called up by coach Vujadin Boškov. His first goal came on 4 September 1994 in a 1–1 draw with Foggia under Carlo Mazzone. In January 1997 he was about to join Sampdoria on loan, but Roma's chairman Franco Sensi blocked the move.

Under Zeman he received the number 10 shirt in 1997. On 31 October 1998, at 22, he took the captain's armband from Aldair, making him the youngest captain in Serie A. In Zeman's two years he scored 30 goals and made 26 assists, and the 1998–99 season earned him Serie A Young Footballer of the Year.

The scudetto

In June 1999 Franco Sensi replaced Zeman with Fabio Capello, with the aim of winning the title. Capello moved Totti behind the strikers as a creative attacking midfielder in a 3–4–1–2, citing his passing and playmaking.

It worked. Totti scored on his season debut on 1 October 2000, a 2–0 win over Bologna, and on 10 December he scored the winner against Udinese, 2–1, with a left-footed volley. On 17 June 2001 Roma clinched the scudetto with a 3–1 win over Parma at the Olimpico. Totti, Vincenzo Montella and Gabriel Batistuta scored. It was Roma's third title, and Totti was named Italian Footballer of the Year for the second year running.

The false nine

In 2005–06 Luciano Spalletti turned him into a lone striker in a 4–2–3–1, a role in which he often dropped deep. The system became known as the false nine. The same season brought the injury that nearly cost him the World Cup: on 19 February, against Empoli, a foul by Richard Vanigli left him with a broken left fibula and a damaged ligament. He came back as a substitute in the Coppa Italia final of 11 May, lost 3–1 to Inter.

The next season was his best. He scored 26 league goals, finished as Serie A's top scorer and received the European Golden Shoe on 17 June 2007. Roma also beat Inter 6–2 at home in that season's Coppa Italia final, with Totti scoring the opening goal after 50 seconds.

The trophies

On 19 April 2008 he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee against Livorno, which ended that season. Roma won the 2008 Coppa Italia against Inter, and Totti, who did not play, lifted the trophy as captain.

Italy: a Panenka, a spit and a World Cup

The Panenka against the Netherlands

Euro 2000 produced his best-known moment for Italy. In the semi-final against the co-hosts Netherlands, in a penalty shoot-out, he chipped his penalty in the style of Antonín Panenka. He told Luigi Di Biagio what he was going to do beforehand. UEFA counted it among the tournament's magic moments.

In the final, Italy lost 2–1 to France in extra time. Totti started the move for Marco Delvecchio's opening goal with a back-heel to Gianluca Pessotto, and later created two chances for Alessandro Del Piero, who did not convert either.

The 2006 World Cup

Four months after the fibula break he was playing with metal plates and screws still in his ankle. Coach Marcello Lippi had told him during rehabilitation that his place was safe. He set up Andrea Pirlo's goal in the 2–0 win over Ghana, scored the late penalty against Australia in the round of 16 on 26 June, and started the counter-attack that led to Del Piero's goal in the semi-final against Germany. Italy beat France on penalties in the final after a 1–1 draw.

He had meant to retire from the national team after the tournament. He changed his mind, stayed undecided for more than a year, and on 20 July 2007 officially retired from international football, citing recurring physical problems and a wish to concentrate on Roma.

Records at Roma

The years after 2008 were a long march through the record book. On 16 January 2008 he scored his 200th goal for Roma. In 2012–13 he climbed the all-time Serie A scoring list: on 21 October 2012 he moved past Giuseppe Meazza and José Altafini into third place.

The last years

The final seasons were not easy. In February 2016 he publicly criticised Spalletti, back as Roma's coach, over his lack of playing time, and was left out of a 5–0 win over Palermo, a decision that caused an uproar among fans. On 7 June 2016 he renewed his contract for one more year and said he would retire at the end of it.

On 11 September 2016 he equalled Maldini's record of 25 Serie A seasons, coming off the bench to score the winning penalty in injury time in a 3–2 win over Sampdoria. His last game came on 28 May 2017, a 3–2 home win over Genoa at the Olimpico. He replaced Mohamed Salah in the 54th minute to a standing ovation.

"I'm afraid, I need you"

— Totti's farewell speech at the Stadio Olimpico, 28 May 2017, as reported by ANSA

After the pitch

On 17 July 2017 he confirmed his retirement and accepted a role as club director at Roma. On 17 June 2019 he resigned at a press conference, criticising chairman James Pallotta and the club's management for not involving him enough, and ended a thirty-year association with the club.

Why he is remembered

A World Cup, a scudetto and a Golden Shoe make a rich career. What makes Totti a legend is that he did it with one shirt, in one city, for twenty-five years.