Octavian, Tiberius, Nero or Caesar – Rome has produced many great personalities, but in terms of football, there is only one Prince of Rome: Francesco Totti. He has now given a witty interview.
Francesco Totti is already 48 years old and hung up his professional football boots years ago. His popularity in Rome has not diminished, however, and wherever the living legend Totti turns up, people turn to look at him. And the Romans are well aware of his status. “When you’re called a legend, it means you’ve achieved something important and significant. You become a legend when you’ve already made your mark in football,” Totti said on the sidelines of an event in Rome, Retesport reported.
The popular figure also talked about his career, which he spent entirely with AS Roma – a rarity even in his day. “I wanted to fulfill my dream of wearing the Roma shirt and stay there for my entire career,” Totti revealed, adding: “Given what I have achieved in my career, I am happy that people see me that way. If people see you in a certain way, it means you’ve achieved something important.” But when asked whether there was a sporting heir, he replied succinctly: ‘My successor? He hasn’t been born yet.’
Maradona and Federer as idols
But what would have become of Totti if he had not become a footballer? “I would have become a gas station attendant, I like the smell of gasoline,” he said jokingly and revealed that he would have tried his hand at tennis if football had not worked out. Incidentally, Totti associates the white sport with a very special and exceptional player, who he also regards as an idol. “Roger Federer is tennis, just as Diego Maradona is football.” Totti also likes to be compared to the Argentinean from time to time, but he refuses to accept this, because: “Nobody can be compared to him. The round ball is Maradona, I don’t want to be compared to him.”
But Totti also knows hero worship, as he revealed the craziest thing that ever happened to him from a fan. “The strangest thing was that a fan stopped to kiss my shoes and feet,” said the Roma legend, who is still amazed: “You laugh about it because you don’t believe that a person would do something like that.”
