Paula Cocozza
Saturday May 25, 2002
by The Guardian : http://www.guardian.co.uk/

The first sign that Francesco Totti is his country's new chosen one is on top of his head. Italy does not have too many natural blonds and Totti's straggly mop glints like a halo above a taut, tanned jaw of square promise. He is Italy's David Beckham, the new Roberto Baggio, and everyone wants a piece of him.
In Tokyo, where Italy played a friendly last year, he wooed the Japanese with his shy smile off the pitch and self-assured style on it. On this occasion, at Roma's training ground, a gentleman from an Israeli newspaper wants to talk to him. Recognition on this geographic scale is still a bit of a novelty.

Totti pulls a grave face. "It's important for any player to be appreciated widely, on other Italian pitches and internationally," he says. Certainly he looks chuffed when he is reminded of the interview Sir Alex Ferguson gave last November, in which the Manchester United manager said that "in Francesco Totti Italy have the man of the World Cup".

But his respect for what lies beyond Rome, and then beyond Italy, is that of a man who loves his own home best and who, in this case, lives in it with his parents. For instance: has he been growing his hair? His face brightens. "Well," he says, as though anticipating disbelief, "I've just had it cut. It was down to here." It does not cross his mind that the wider world might know what he looks like.

In this sense he is a less likely figurehead for the Azzurri than Paolo Maldini. Unlike Maldini, Totti does not speak English and his Italian is not great either. Two years ago, sensing that club captaincy called for greater articulacy, he took up lessons in his own language. Now, a weekly satirical show on Rai TV turns his reputed ineloquence into "Tottigo", a character whose main props are an alice band, mobile phone and a Roman accent so thick it chews all the words before they fight their way out in pieces.

But, though he struggles to find his rhythm in speech, he has an off-the-cuff turn of phrase - "Women," he once said, "can turn you inside out like a sock" - and is fluent on the pitch. "What makes him a great captain," says his Roma and Italy team-mate Damiano Tommasi, "is not what he says in the dressing room - he doesn't talk much - but the fact that, when a game seems beyond hope and there's no way through, Francesco comes up with the key pass." As if to say this is where he does his talking, Totti plays with his tongue sticking out.

Now Fiat, remarkably, has cast him in its latest commercial, reportedly to the chagrin of Alessandro del Piero, from whom he has also taken Italy's No10 shirt. Given the Turin-based manufacturer's connections with Juventus, there could not be a clearer sign of Totti's national acceptance. But it is an acceptance based on technical ability.

No one else can link the midfield and front two with quite the same sensitivity to the dimensions of time and space. Totti can play as a second striker, but how does he see himself? "As a trequartista," he says firmly, "behind the front two." He has a 360-degree awareness, typified by those trademark lobs of the defence, any-angle flicks and diagonal passes to arriving feet, that makes him pivotal. The press are already calling Italy "Totti-dependent".

Totti squirms at this and says there are "a lot of other players capable of making the difference, who are also symbols of the national side". He suggests Christian Vieri and Maldini, both of whom play for the Milanese clubs. Did he ever feel it was harder for a Roman to "symbolise" the national side than a player from the north? He looks surprised. "Yes, but that's only natural. Us Romans, it's not as if we have a great reputation. They say we're lazy and we lack mental strength."

So what was the turning point? Euro 2000, he says with a brave laugh, "could have gone better". Losing the final to France on a golden goal was "the biggest disappointment of my career". But it was also "the moment I realised I had become a fixture in the national side. I have always had a sense of what I was capable of but I hadn't demonstrated it until then."

That is to say not consistently. Three years ago he was on the outskirts of the Italy squad when Dino Zoff decided to give him the last 25 minutes of a dull European qualifier against Denmark. He bounded on to the pitch, as though seeing open space for the first time, and within five minutes had sped down the left wing, passed three players and supplied the perfect assist for Antonio Conte's winner.

No one was surprised. Convincing people he had talent had never been the problem but he was seen as a player of irresponsible brilliance. This he knows. "Ehhhh," he says, eyes to the heavens. "You're telling me." So what changed?

On the main road that leads to his club's training ground through the village of Trigoria the white centres of all the Give Way signs have been painted yellow to match club colours and the bunting, still hanging a year after they won Serie A, is curling into parchment. Totti, a Roma fan from birth, used to watch from the Curva Sud and in the past his bond with the fans has led to the occasional gaffe.

After one derby win he appeared on television, scrubbed up in a suit and looking as though he smelt of shampoo, to talk about his goal. The footage suggested he might have committed hand-ball, probed his host. Did he? "No," he replied. "But if I had it would have felt even better." Famously he celebrated the same event by ripping off his jersey to reveal a T-shirt telling Lazio fans, " Vi ho purgato ancora" - I've given you a laxative again.

He would not do that now, he says. "I've grown up. I've worked hard, I've developed." He thanks his former Roma manager Zdenek Zeman for his work rate, Fabio Capello for his "mental strength and discipline". But the biggest recent impact on his progress has probably been Vito Scala, the fitness coach he calls "a brother". The two arrived at Roma 12 years ago, Totti as a 13-year-old hopeful, Scala as youth-team coach.

For the last three years, at Totti's request, Scala has been written into his contract as personal trainer. First they worked on stamina, then muscle development, now speed and agility. Previously renowned for his love of food, lasagne being a particular weakness, Totti has more bulk but weighs less, moves faster but does not tire.

He is, as Zoff says, both "robust and inventive". Athleticism has given point to his creativity beyond flamboyance and Totti plays with the energy usually spent by the less gifted. He tackles, tracks back and, when a move breaks down, he is first to turn away, not in frustration but to start again.

He thinks Italy will get to the semi-finals and that the final will be contested between two of Germany, England, Italy, France, Argentina and Brazil, with France and Argentina "very likely" winners. The Italians' 1-0 defeat by the Czech Republic last Saturday - without Totti, recovering from a thigh strain - is not a cause for concern. "It's our mentality," he shrugs. "We only make an effort when it matters."

Others have been making different kinds of predictions. Zoff, who says Totti was a "lovely" person to have in his Euro 2000 squad, agrees with Ferguson. "He has the potential to become one of the greatest players in the world. This summer will be his measure and his consecration." Totti is not so sure about the word "consecration". "I think I've shown quite a bit of that already," he says.