After two decades of Totti mania on the red side of the Italian capital, the Roma legend is preparing to step away from the club at the grand old age of 39.
The former Italian international has famously spent his entire career at his boyhood club - much to the detriment of his personal trophy cabinet, as is often suggested in Turin and Milan - but will depart at the end of the current season for pastures anew, presumed to be New York Cosmos.
Champions League-chasing Roma trailed Torino 1-2 tonight with just four minutes of normal time remaining. On came The Captain. Three minutes later, fans who had braved the less than spectacular weather were roaring, grown men were weeping in the Curva, and chants of “capitano eterno” echoed around the Stadio Olimpico.
Totti, for his part, was simply swamped by his teammates - with the full bench joining the iconic Roman in his celebrations after he notched the late, late winner; he initially levelled the contest with his first touch - not 10 seconds after he arrived on the field of play.
A couple of takeaways from the above video:
1) He can still hurdle the advertising hoardings like it's nobody's business, the ol' fella.
2) The stutter after he had scored his penalty - a millisecond to absorb what may be his final ever Roma goal - before realising he was about to be smothered by his celebratory mates. Football poetry.
What a moment. What a man. The eternal captain.
Francesco TOTTI comes on in the 86th minute, AS Roma down 2-1 vs Torino, scores twice, Roma win 3-2. pic.twitter.com/FvGYbwo5mq
— Old School Panini (@OldSchoolPanini) April 20, 2016
