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10 years of FIF
Most Important MemberAnd lest we forget, we also have to win against Ascoli first before making it -19...
Anyways, I like the way Fiorentina plays, and Prandelli as a coach, but I guess my dislike for Mutu and especially, Le Rat Frey, is too high such that I'd wish they'd miss the Champions League spot.
Hand
yo
Anyways, I like the way Fiorentina plays, and Prandelli as a coach, but I guess my dislike for Mutu and especially, Le Rat Frey, is too high such that I'd wish they'd miss the Champions League spot.
Hand
yo
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Forum Supporter10 years of FIFWow, Palermo have sucked since they lost Amauri. It's a shame Viola had such a massive penalty or they would have been challenging Roma for the 2nd CL spot. Instead they'll probably have to settle for a UEFA Cup placing.
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Forum SupporterAnd lest we forget, we also have to win against Ascoli first before making it -19...
Anyways, I like the way Fiorentina plays, and Prandelli as a coach, but I guess my dislike for Mutu and especially, Le Rat Frey, is too high such that I'd wish they'd miss the Champions League spot.
Hand
I wish that every season. Ever since Frey left us "because he wanted to play in the Champions League" I wish every team he plays for struggles to qualify even for the UEFA Cup. Deserves worse than La Viola.:stuckup:
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Forum Supporter10 years of FIFNice read for all the Totti fans out there
By Gabriele Marcotti (self confessed Interista)
Man on a mission
He's not embraced, but Totti leads Roma at own pace
Posted: Thursday March 15, 2007 11:30AM; Updated: Thursday March 15, 2007 4:03PM
No one told Francesco Totti that there is a path to superstardom that's quicker and smoother than others.
The AS Roma captain has the talent, of course, as well as drive, the will to win and health -- all the qualities which we in the media regularly extol.
But if you want to take the quicker road to glory, at some point you also need to make the basic decision to join one of the world's perennial super-clubs.
You know who they are -- the half-dozen teams who regularly reach the Champions League quarterfinals, the ones where you can be surrounded by players of equal and greater talent, who will enable you to take the odd night off.
They're also the ones who are on TV, the ones the sponsors love, the ones which can make you a household name outside your country's borders.
Move to Manchester United, Milan or Barcelona and, if you have the skills to back it up, you will -- to paraphrase Gerald Durrell -- "inherit the world."
But ask Totti, would Wayne Rooney be as big as he is if he were still at Everton? Would Sergio Ramos be anything other than a "good, solid pro" if he had stayed at Valencia? If Andrea Pirlo had never left his home in Brescia, would we hail him as a great playmaker?
The answer, more often than not, is no. Which is why players like Totti who -- for whatever reason, whether it be loyalty or big-fish-in-small-pond syndrome -- regularly turn down the chance to join the super-clubs are a special breed.
Southampton's Matt Le Tissier was one, as was Julen Guerrero of Athletic Bilbao. In their own way, before they took on new challenges at the end of their careers, Gabriel Batistuta and Henrik Larsson, with their enduring loyalty to Fiorentina and Celtic, respectively, epitomized this as well.
Yet there is no greater example of this than Totti. Born and bred in Rome, he made his debut for the Giallorossi -- the team he supported all his life -- 13 days after his 18th birthday and never left.
While Roma is by no means a "small club," apart from a three-year spell under Fabio Capello at the turn of the millennium, it never matched the big boys in terms of spending or star power. In fact, even now, it remains a heavily indebted club, one which has to scrimp and save each summer to bring in -- often B-list -- players.
And yet it is on that stage that Totti plies his trade. At 30, he is enjoying one of his best seasons. Roma currently sits in second in Serie A and last week knocked out heavily favored Lyon to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. In the second leg of that matchup, Totti uncorked one of his trademark pinpoint accurate did-you-see-that 50-yard passes to set up Mancini's stepover-laden goal, after opening the scoring with the kind of header a genuine center forward would be proud of.
Totti is not a genuine striker, but, as in previous seasons, he is Roma's main source of goals. As of Thursday, he has scored 18 in 26 Serie A games this season and he's just two away from breaking his personal one-year record. With 143 Serie A goals under his belt, he has a decent chance of becoming only the sixth player in history to score 200 in the Italian top flight.
In Rome, Totti is the undisputed king (at least as far as the red-and-yellow half is concerned). Yet worldwide, while he is undoubtedly respected, he fails to garner the accolades he enjoys at home. There are two main reasons for this and they tell us a little bit about the nature of fame and celebrity.
The first is that he is seen to have failed to have a genuine impact at international level with Italy or with Roma in the Champions League. This year marks the first time he has helped Roma reach the quarterfinals of the competition.
With Italy, he had a good Euro 2000, setting up what could have been the winning goal in the final against France. At the '02 World Cup, however, he floundered with the rest of the Azzurri and the enduring memory is his controversial ejection for diving against South Korea.
It went even worse at Euro '04. Frustrated by Christian Poulsen's close marking job in a game against Denmark, Totti spat at his opponent and was slapped with a six-game ban, which covered him in disgrace.
He wasn't fit going into the '06 World Cup -- he had rushed back from a knee injury in record time -- and while he played his part in Italy's victory (he slotted away a crucial injury-time penalty against Australia) and featured in every game, he was overshadowed by the performances of Fabio Cannavaro, Gigi Buffon and Pirlo, who got all the headlines.
The second factor has more to do with his look and playing style. Because Totti is that rare combination -- a "skill" player built like a bruiser -- he tends to get fouled more often than others and, often, goes down. This does not endear him to the press in certain parts of the world, particularly the English-speaking media, which is dominated by British pundits.
And, simply put, a number of them seem to be suspicious of a certain type of Latin player: long hair, headband, argumentative, theatrical, etc. In that sense, Totti is a turn-off. Whether this is fair or not is hardly the issue. The point is that superstardom necessarily involves the ability to sell yourself to the critics and that is something Totti, for whatever reason, has not done.
All this could change this season. If he can lead Roma past Manchester United and into the semifinals of the Champions League, he will earn the kudos which have so far escaped him internationally.
And it will be that much sweeter, because he will have built his reputation without having needed to make the jump to one of the game's aristocrats.
By Gabriele Marcotti (self confessed Interista)
Man on a mission
He's not embraced, but Totti leads Roma at own pace
Posted: Thursday March 15, 2007 11:30AM; Updated: Thursday March 15, 2007 4:03PM
No one told Francesco Totti that there is a path to superstardom that's quicker and smoother than others.
The AS Roma captain has the talent, of course, as well as drive, the will to win and health -- all the qualities which we in the media regularly extol.
But if you want to take the quicker road to glory, at some point you also need to make the basic decision to join one of the world's perennial super-clubs.
You know who they are -- the half-dozen teams who regularly reach the Champions League quarterfinals, the ones where you can be surrounded by players of equal and greater talent, who will enable you to take the odd night off.
They're also the ones who are on TV, the ones the sponsors love, the ones which can make you a household name outside your country's borders.
Move to Manchester United, Milan or Barcelona and, if you have the skills to back it up, you will -- to paraphrase Gerald Durrell -- "inherit the world."
But ask Totti, would Wayne Rooney be as big as he is if he were still at Everton? Would Sergio Ramos be anything other than a "good, solid pro" if he had stayed at Valencia? If Andrea Pirlo had never left his home in Brescia, would we hail him as a great playmaker?
The answer, more often than not, is no. Which is why players like Totti who -- for whatever reason, whether it be loyalty or big-fish-in-small-pond syndrome -- regularly turn down the chance to join the super-clubs are a special breed.
Southampton's Matt Le Tissier was one, as was Julen Guerrero of Athletic Bilbao. In their own way, before they took on new challenges at the end of their careers, Gabriel Batistuta and Henrik Larsson, with their enduring loyalty to Fiorentina and Celtic, respectively, epitomized this as well.
Yet there is no greater example of this than Totti. Born and bred in Rome, he made his debut for the Giallorossi -- the team he supported all his life -- 13 days after his 18th birthday and never left.
While Roma is by no means a "small club," apart from a three-year spell under Fabio Capello at the turn of the millennium, it never matched the big boys in terms of spending or star power. In fact, even now, it remains a heavily indebted club, one which has to scrimp and save each summer to bring in -- often B-list -- players.
And yet it is on that stage that Totti plies his trade. At 30, he is enjoying one of his best seasons. Roma currently sits in second in Serie A and last week knocked out heavily favored Lyon to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. In the second leg of that matchup, Totti uncorked one of his trademark pinpoint accurate did-you-see-that 50-yard passes to set up Mancini's stepover-laden goal, after opening the scoring with the kind of header a genuine center forward would be proud of.
Totti is not a genuine striker, but, as in previous seasons, he is Roma's main source of goals. As of Thursday, he has scored 18 in 26 Serie A games this season and he's just two away from breaking his personal one-year record. With 143 Serie A goals under his belt, he has a decent chance of becoming only the sixth player in history to score 200 in the Italian top flight.
In Rome, Totti is the undisputed king (at least as far as the red-and-yellow half is concerned). Yet worldwide, while he is undoubtedly respected, he fails to garner the accolades he enjoys at home. There are two main reasons for this and they tell us a little bit about the nature of fame and celebrity.
The first is that he is seen to have failed to have a genuine impact at international level with Italy or with Roma in the Champions League. This year marks the first time he has helped Roma reach the quarterfinals of the competition.
With Italy, he had a good Euro 2000, setting up what could have been the winning goal in the final against France. At the '02 World Cup, however, he floundered with the rest of the Azzurri and the enduring memory is his controversial ejection for diving against South Korea.
It went even worse at Euro '04. Frustrated by Christian Poulsen's close marking job in a game against Denmark, Totti spat at his opponent and was slapped with a six-game ban, which covered him in disgrace.
He wasn't fit going into the '06 World Cup -- he had rushed back from a knee injury in record time -- and while he played his part in Italy's victory (he slotted away a crucial injury-time penalty against Australia) and featured in every game, he was overshadowed by the performances of Fabio Cannavaro, Gigi Buffon and Pirlo, who got all the headlines.
The second factor has more to do with his look and playing style. Because Totti is that rare combination -- a "skill" player built like a bruiser -- he tends to get fouled more often than others and, often, goes down. This does not endear him to the press in certain parts of the world, particularly the English-speaking media, which is dominated by British pundits.
And, simply put, a number of them seem to be suspicious of a certain type of Latin player: long hair, headband, argumentative, theatrical, etc. In that sense, Totti is a turn-off. Whether this is fair or not is hardly the issue. The point is that superstardom necessarily involves the ability to sell yourself to the critics and that is something Totti, for whatever reason, has not done.
All this could change this season. If he can lead Roma past Manchester United and into the semifinals of the Champions League, he will earn the kudos which have so far escaped him internationally.
And it will be that much sweeter, because he will have built his reputation without having needed to make the jump to one of the game's aristocrats.
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Great piece and thanks for sharing it. I am glad that others realize that Totti earned whatever he has achieved and never took the short-cut or the star-studded ship.
To me, he is the greatest player that is playing soccer right now anywhere in the world. For a playmaker to have to turn into a CF in the most defensive league and to lead the scoring chart, you got to be something else to achieve that.
To me, he is the greatest player that is playing soccer right now anywhere in the world. For a playmaker to have to turn into a CF in the most defensive league and to lead the scoring chart, you got to be something else to achieve that.
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Well IMO this article was more like propaganda than analyzyz. In my eyes Roma not being regular quaterfinalists in CL is a matter of underachieving. Pirlo's Brescia, Rooney's Everton are not to compare with Roma and Rooney was a superstar at there too because of his age. And Sergio Ramos? Who in the hell thinks his a superstar?
Totti has managed to stay loyal but I wouldn't be suprised if he after the career would blame his underachieving team if he had to answer to a question-why aren't you a regular nominee to the Ballon d'Or. Another point is that Totti every year makes an announcement "if the players won't arrive I'll leave".
He is definetly THE player in the Serie A along with Ibra ATM. He sure will be remembered. And if he could bring CL-cup to Eternl City he just might end up to a same list with Pele and Maradona.
Totti has managed to stay loyal but I wouldn't be suprised if he after the career would blame his underachieving team if he had to answer to a question-why aren't you a regular nominee to the Ballon d'Or. Another point is that Totti every year makes an announcement "if the players won't arrive I'll leave".
He is definetly THE player in the Serie A along with Ibra ATM. He sure will be remembered. And if he could bring CL-cup to Eternl City he just might end up to a same list with Pele and Maradona.
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10 years of FIFRamos is a Sevilla former player, not Valencia good article, i will always like Totti.
good article, i will always like Totti.
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good article on totti..sums his career up well(and even more the main reasons to like him)
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and totally ignoring the reasons to hate him...
I agree with Diavolo on this one. It's still beyond me how some of you can fall for this b*tch, he's got skills, he's a good player but as a person he's among the worst who ever played football. Plus he plays for one of our biggest rivals (now don't go bitchin' about "ohh but they're not our rivals and they hate gobbi etc --> bbilan hate gobbi, Fiorentina hate gobbi, hell almost everyone hates gobbi), so go around and ask romanisti is there any Inter player they like or would they support us... I'll bet big money on the answer which you all know!
Hamed: the game is still called football.
I agree with Diavolo on this one. It's still beyond me how some of you can fall for this b*tch, he's got skills, he's a good player but as a person he's among the worst who ever played football. Plus he plays for one of our biggest rivals (now don't go bitchin' about "ohh but they're not our rivals and they hate gobbi etc --> bbilan hate gobbi, Fiorentina hate gobbi, hell almost everyone hates gobbi), so go around and ask romanisti is there any Inter player they like or would they support us... I'll bet big money on the answer which you all know!
Hamed: the game is still called football.
and totally ignoring the reasons to hate him...
I agree with Diavolo on this one. It's still beyond me how some of you can fall for this b*tch, he's got skills, he's a good player but as a person he's among the worst who ever played football. Plus he plays for one of our biggest rivals (now don't go bitchin' about "ohh but they're not our rivals and they hate gobbi etc --> bbilan hate gobbi, Fiorentina hate gobbi, hell almost everyone hates gobbi), so go around and ask romanisti is there any Inter player they like or would they support us... I'll bet big money on the answer which you all know!
Hamed: the game is still called football.
!!!!!!!
oh, and please, comparing tottina to Pelé is pretty harsh
francesca will never reach the level of Pelé
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10 years of FIFEverybody hates Gobbi, but also almost everybody hates Inter.
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I am not saying that Totti is a model citizen, but he isn't a cheater, which is a rare trait not to have amongst soccer players now.
The rivalry between Inter and Roma are only between the Ultras as far as I know, so we shouldn't take it like a rule. Unless there is something else I am missing or don't know about.
About soccer, lol, it's the North American effect, I shan't use that word again.
The rivalry between Inter and Roma are only between the Ultras as far as I know, so we shouldn't take it like a rule. Unless there is something else I am missing or don't know about.
About soccer, lol, it's the North American effect, I shan't use that word again.
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also normal fans in italy are not very good friends(inter-roma).
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I know it very well, that mofos did not let me to enter St. Paul's Cathedral in Vatican (I guess it was because of Bobo's jersey because I did not break any rule).
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10 years of FIFRoma-Inter relationship is like Barcelona-Atletico, the just don't care about each other. in the other hand Roma-Rubentus is like Atletico-Sevilla, they hate each other.
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