The 39-year-old forward has had a stellar professional career, winning the World Cup in 2006 being one of the major achievments. However, Totti recently revealed that one of the biggest regrets in his career was not joining Spanish giants Real Madrid when they came calling.
Il Re di Roma or the King of Rome, as he is affectionately called, has spent the entire 22 years of his professional career at Serie A club AS Roma. Totti recently came on as a substitute in their Champions League encounter against Real Madrid, and received a standing ovation at the Santiago Bernabeu, though the Romans crashed out of the Champions League on a 4-0 aggregate loss.
After the match, the Italian stallion was humbled by the overwhelming response by Madridistas, saying that not joining Real Madrid was the only regret he had in a long and storied career.
“The Santiago Bernabeu is an amazing stadium. Real Madrid are my only regret,” said Totti to Italian broadcasters Mediaset after the game.
“It was very emotional to get such a warm welcome. This is a great memory for me.”
The Galactico Real Madrid could not buy
In 2003-04 Totti was among the best players in world football, ripping up the Serie A with style, grace and goal-scoring aplomb. He scored 20 goals for Roma that season and won the Guerin d’Oro, an award for the player with the best average rating in Serie A throughout the season.
There were many rumours linking him to a move to the La Liga side Real Madrid, however Totti stayed at Roma. Later in his career he revealed that he could have joined Los Blancos, but his feelings for his boyhood club wouldn’t allow him to.
However, Francesco Totti is still eager and raring to go when it comes to playing at the highest level, even at the age of 39. He recently stated that he would now consider moving to another club if he isn’t given game time at Roma, a tragic end to his record as a one club player.
