An ode to my hero Totti

Roger Mitchell cried when he wrote this tribute to his hero Francesco Totti. “I wrote it for my wife,” he says. “She’s a big Romanista.”

Now, it's not as though we are talking about a defender or a goalie.

Where middle age can be managed slightly more easily.

This is a guy leading the line at 39, at the highest level, against arguably some of the best centre backs in the world.

The guy that invented the false nine role at 30.

You can't expect more than a half, or an hour but you also have no right to expect to receive that kind of performance either.

The world is full of good players, great athletes, accomplished performers on the international stage.

And then there are the very few that sit in the Pantheon of the gods.

After 22 years at close quarters, there is not a lot more to say.

When you watch him, and it's all those little things with extreme class that catch the eye, no one comments anymore. You just look to your mates, catch their eye and both of you smile. No words.

It's the ultimate in-joke for the real football fan.

How must they feel, to know that such a thing has belonged solely to them, and he has wanted nothing more from his career.

The fathers of my generation who push time to rush for their sons to grow up and attain footballing awareness so they can do their solemn duty and say, "I took the boy to see him when he was still playing.”

Amen and grazie.