Daniele De Rossi is best known for being head-over-heels in love with his boyhood club AS Roma, as every time some of Europe's biggest clubs come sniffing they are told to look elsewhere, such is his loyalty to the giallorossi.
He was also a part of Italy's 2006 World Cup winning squad, and competently dispatched his penalty in the shootout against France in the final, but he once made headlines back in Italy after the passing of a member of staff from that Italian World Cup journey.
At 92 years of age, Pietro Lombardi, longtime kitman for the Italian national team passed away last year, and tributes began to pour in from those involved in Italian football including Francesco Totti, who posted the following to his blog:
A great, a person to whom I was fond of in a special way. Always with a smile, always available. He always had great respect and admiration for all the national team players. A single person, I will miss a lot. Toothbrush, you will always be in my heart.
'Toothbrush' being Lombardi's nickname due to his ability to clean the players' boots with impeccable attention to detail.
But Totti's teammate De Rossi made his tribute in person, as he rushed out of Roma training to head to Florence for Lombardi's funeral, where he placed his World Cup winner's medal in the coffin for his friend to keep, as reported by GazzettaWorld.it:
On Wednesday morning, De Rossi finished his training rather hurriedly and went off as if he had another important engagement. He went to Florence to attend the funeral of Pietro Lombardi, the former Italy kitman, who had passed away aged 92.
He left training in the morning and put his World Cup winner’s medal in his pocket before driving to Florence. There, he greeted his friend for the final time and put his most valuable possession into the coffin.
That is class.
A World Cup winner's medal is the prized possession of every player who is fortunate enough to earn one, and for De Rossi to leave his with the body of the kitman speaks volumes as to how highly he thought of him.
Massive respect to De Rossi for his gesture, that will no doubt have meant a lot to the family of Pietro Lombardi.
