How Francesco Totti returned from a potentially career ending injury to become a focal point in Italy’s march towards winning the 2006 World Cup. A story of willpower and determination in spite of the limits of the human body.
“It seems as if when he was born, the heavenly father said: ‘Go down there and play football and that’s it.’ And he did what he was prescribed to do.” – Luigi Riva
“Every player has some genius, but there’s only one Van Gogh, and there is nobody like Totti.” – Giovanni Trapattoni.
Boyhood hero
I always avoided writing about my boyhood hero because I never felt that I could do him literary justice. His accounts were for some great writer I thought, someone who knew better. But I took this story so personally, until I couldn’t take the restlessness in my heart any longer.
Please enjoy the Ballad of Totti and his Miraculous Recovery for the 2006 World Cup…
Francesco Totti clenched his bottom lip, giving his tongue one more flick. One last gasp for air under the suffocating noise of the Fritz-Walter Stadion. After defying all natural odds, he now had the chance to change Italy’s fortunes forever. But first, he had to convert a penalty kick in the last second of a World Cup elimination match.
King of Rome
It’s horrifying to think that the King of Rome shouldn’t have made the plane to the World Cup. In late February of the 2005/06 season, Roma were on a roll under Luciano Spalletti. The Tuscan tactician pushed Totti to the top of his attack in an avant-garde formation where he would often drop from the highest line to help in creation of the play, which positionally became known as the ‘False 9.’
Up until that point, Totti was enjoying his most prolific season to date. He had already scored 15 goals in just 24 league appearances, including the infamous ‘cucchiaio’ chip over Julio Cesar. In his prime, bursting with confidence. But in the early 2000s, Italian football still had its fair share of nasty tackles, and he was a frequent recipient. So much so that Totti was even having conversations with the club’s Dr. Brozzi, about the excessive number of fouls he was getting from behind – the ones that put people on the infirmary list.
Horror tackle
Rome – and all of Italy – must have held their breath when Richard Vanigli then made a horror tackle through the back of Totti’s legs. The defender went in from behind in the middle of the pitch. The Roma captain stayed flat on the ground for a moment. He felt nothing – no pain, or weakness. Then, his foot went limp in front of his eyes. He clutched the left ankle, and circled his fingers for a substitution. Roma would win the match, but awaited the fate of their captain who was rushed to the hospital.
Emergency surgery. The nerve had been broken – explaining why he first felt nothing. His left fibula was fractured, with the adjoining ligaments ripped apart. The surgical insertion of a metal plate and several screws into his leg took the chances of making the tournament from slim to none, but someone knew Totti better than he had even known himself:
“Let me tell you right away, you can do it. You broke your fibula and the ligament in your instep. The surgery lasted (over) two hours. I inserted a plate with 13 screws that will remain there permanently. Plus, a screw in the instep that will block the ligament for a month and then be removed. The rehabilitation will be long, laborious, and even painful, but I know your body well. I know the calcifications are faster than normal with you. So I feel I can promise that you’ll be able to play games in June. Don’t ask me how though, because the timescale is really tight and a World Cup is no joke… A lot will depend on you.” -Dr Mariani
Improving steadily
He worked for eight hours a day, improving steadily – and even further ahead of schedule – thanks to sealing garbage bags around the wound and exercising in the pool to recover flexibility and muscle tone. Stretches eventually became leg lifts, which turned into high steps, and then into jumps. Totti was running without issue by the end of March.
But did he have enough in him to make it for the final squad selection? It was a question that kept Azzurri boss Marcello Lippi up at night for almost three months.
“Yes, boss. I’m there.” The four magic words.
Mariani was right. The recovery was made in record time. He made it back and played fringe minutes for Roma’s last two matches of the season. Then an entire 70min match against an amateur side in the last run before the tournament. Enormous relief for the coach, who claimed “No one else can play Totti’s position.”
Fulfilling a conviction
Totti worked towards more than just getting into the tournament, but fulfilling a conviction. A redemption. He needed to clear his name following the spat against Christian Poulsen at Euro 2004, and red card against South Korea at World Cup 2002. But to also prove that he was one of, if not the best player in the world. Up until this point there was always a suspicion that surrounded Totti for his decision to stay at Roma over becoming a Galactico of Real Madrid. If he was truly an elite player, the critics said, he’d have the character and skill to match. This tournament would change everything.
“A lot of people said that I wouldn’t make it. I wanted to show what type of character Romans have. I worked hard.” – Totti, late May 2006
Ghana – 12/06/2006
The first 30 minutes of the tournament must have gone down as a FIFA record when Totti played 18 key passes and through balls into the final third. It seemed light work for the player who considered himself only “60-70%” fit.
There was a quick payoff as he cast a line out to Andrea Pirlo. Totti found the regista directly off the corner kick, laying silently above the crowd inside the box. Pirlo positioned the ball in front of him and fired the ball into the back of the net from some 23 yards out. Textbook, a play the two of them conceived out on the training pitch during their preparation at Coverciano.
Moments after the start of the second half, Totti connected with Pirlo once again. This time he was on the receiving end. Then providing an inch perfect ball onto the right side of the box for Alberto Gilardino. The chemistry was quantifying.
In the 55’, Totti made a tackle more akin to Gennaro Gattuso than Italy’s greatest ever playmaker. He writhed in agony as Italian fans fell silent.
‘Che brutto!’ the commentators hurled. There was the shock of “why would he have made such a play,” but Totti was physically and emotionally committed.
He was taken out for Mauro Camoranesi and it took until later that night for a medical update. If one thing was sure, it is that if Italy were going to fulfil their potential in this tournament, their creative brain had to be at the heart of the play. No one could have the team tick like Totti. Connecting the dots, and bypassing thirds of the pitch at a time with one simple play.
The tests came back negative for anything serious. The squad slept much easier that night at their base in Duisburg.
USA – 17/06/2006
The match against the USA was overshadowed by not Il Capitano, but Capitano Futuro Daniele De Rossi. The youngest player in the squad was sent off with under a half-hour played for elbowing Brian McBride in a harrowing play. The American gushed blood from the side of his face. But it was the Italians who really felt the pain as the US ran tenaciously, applying pressure and making the Azzurri chase the game. Just prior to the elbow, each side had scored – albeit Gilardino’s goal came against the run of play. The USA now had momentum following Cristian Zaccardo’s own goal and finding themselves up a man in under one minute of each other. They were “faster and tougher” than the Italians, as Totti recalled.
Pablo Mastroeni’s red card kept the situation from worsening following his blind-rage aggression. Italy got an even bigger hand just two minutes into the second half. Eddie Pope was handed the third red card of the match, equalling a World Cup record. But when Totti was subbed off by Lippi, the Azzurri struggled to threaten the Stars and Stripes’ final third. Alessandro Del Piero did his best in the second striker role, but there was a noticeable drop-off in build-up and cohesion. ADP tried to take the game into his own hands, but the team was not nearly as fluid without Er Pupone. Even if the Juventus talisman was brilliant in his own right.
A draw, and the only goal scored from open play against Italy for their entire time in Germany.
Czech Republic – 22/06/2006
Italy collected four points from their first two matches. While they seemed calm and effective against Ghana, the match against the US almost unwound the squad. They needed a win over the Czech Republic to top the group and avoid reigning champions Brazil. But with a team led by 2003 Balon d’Or winner Pavel Nedved, balanced by Milan Baros and Marek Jankulovski, and protected with Petr Cech in net, a win would have to be earned rather than simply obtained.
In just 15 minutes, Gianluigi Buffon was given his toughest test of the tournament thus far, blocking Nedved’s left-footed bullet, and the follow-up attempt. The Italians were forced onto their toes.
Another un-fortuitous moment for the Azzurri just one-minute later. Marco Materazzi was called off the bench to the halfway line. Alessandro Nesta felt a pull, and the four-time Serie A Defender of the Year had to be subbed off after injuring his groin. He was a mainstay for the group, a club legend and one of the most experienced in the side. But what seemed bad luck became quite the opposite. Materazzi would emerge as a different type of threat for Lippi’s arsenal.
Totti ignited the towering defender’s flame:
Six minutes after coming on, his excited eyes met Totti, and pointed up, gesturing for him to play the ball to the far post. He played a deep, out-swinging corner kick that hung right inside the danger zone. The 6’4” centre-back to stepped right into the space. No marking player could have matched the height and strength to prevent Materazzi from meeting Totti’s perfectly weighted ball.
The match opened up
The Czech Republic had a few strong sequences even after Jan Polak received a second yellow at the stroke of halftime. The defender was reckless, terrorizing Totti’s ankles with kicks from behind. The Czechs increased their aggression, now knowing they had nothing to lose. Somehow with a man down, the Czechs had gotten faster, more alive. The match opened up.
Gattuso rugby tackled Nedved. Mauro Camoranesi was on the wrong end of a crushing tackle. Then Materazzi showed the Czech captain what a tough, clean slide felt like.
In the 53’, Furia Ceca was on a breakaway after splitting two Azzurri defenders, before having his angle compromised by the third. Nevertheless, Nedved’s hard shot was part of a flurry that Buffon had to parry away. Totti then had an inch perfect shot from almost 40 yards out that Cech just managed to get a fingertip on. Afterwards, Camoranesi was targeted off the corner kick, but it ended just wide.
Two of the game’s greatest cannoneers then fired their volleys against the enemy. Totti had a slicing shot, which Nedved replied with a blast of his own. Buffon had to put both hands together from the sheer power behind it. Lippi scowled like an old man returning soup at a deli.
Positive signs
It would be Totti’s mate and usual recipient, Simone Perrotta, who played the second assist for Filippo Inzaghi to secure the win. It was a simple ball. But the Italian born in Ashton-under-Lyne would later be rewarded with more minutes – and key passes – from his club captain.
Signs were positive for Totti. His fitness was regaining, and was able to last the entirety of the match for the first time since February 12th. Which was almost half a year ago at that point. He didn’t want to rest in the coming match, but Lippi saw it as the halfway point in the tournament, and feared wearing him down against a physical team with one day of recovery in hand.
Australia – Round of 16 – 26/06/2006
Italy endured 45 minutes playing a man down against Australia, after Marco Materazzi was shown a straight red card at the beginning of the second half. The Socceroos had their best generation of all time, and revelled in the chance to send Marcello Lippi’s side packing home early for the second World Cup in a row. To replicate that nightmare would have triggered a national day of mourning.
But deep in added time, Totti received the ball deep, coming way into his own half. As Australia attempted to resettle, he shifted from right to left, and with the ball on his weaker foot -as if there was such – played a long pass that dropped inch-perfect to lead Fabio Grosso on a run.
The left-back let the ball take a bounce, staying in bounds from the curvature of the pass. Grosso cut in to bypass his mark with a great bit of skill. Surging into the box, he was then subject to the infamous two-footed foul, causing him to fall to ground. Referee Luis Medina Cantalejo blew for the penalty kick. It didn’t matter if it was just slight contact, or what some perceived as an equitable decision after Materazzi’s dismissal. The officials were trigger happy throughout the entire tournament, and it was a lapse of judgment by Lucas Neill.
Laser-focused
Totti looked down as he stepped up, laser-focused through the ball, rather than at it. His eyes, moving ever so subtly, picking his spot like an apex predator for the kill. There was no drama in the runup, no stutter, no fake attempt – just one last gasp for air under the pressure cooker situation.
“The bomb in my head went off when I saw the net bulge, because that was the moment of certainty. I was so crushed by the pressure that I didn’t even trust my eyes.”
It was pure football, drilled high and to the keeper’s right. No.10 put his thumb to his mouth with a smile, with the weight of the world dropping off his shoulders. Not only were the Azzurri going through to the final eight, but it was his first goal since that fateful February day.
The movement of the shot was a work of art in itself. Right hand swung down and away, counterbalancing his left, which rose high like the arm of Augustus Caesar in the Prima Porta sculpture. His right foot fired through the ball, his leg gracing upwards after contact. So naturally, as all of the minute ligaments and muscles that come together where biology meets philosophy, like Da Vinci’s sketches of a bird’s wing. Totti was reborn, he was now in flight.
Luckily I scored
In a 2024 interview, he finally revisited what we so chillingly remember: “In that moment, I was completely focused on scoring that goal for the hope of the Italians watching in that big moment of the game. It was a big responsibility and luckily I scored.” An understated reply for a goal that relieved Italy from the 2002 nightmare.
The nation must have felt the ghost of World Cup Past. Luca Toni had squandered a handful of goals – the first player to score 30 goals in a Serie A season since 1959. It was eerily similar to Vieri’s horror show against South Korea. What made the win ever so sweet was the fact that it was over a Gus Hiddink team, the very same manager employed by the Koreans.
In the aftermath, Totti and Italy felt that they had pulled off the great escape. To play such a significant amount of time a man down, then be awarded a penalty in the last second before a gruelling extra time – and have it converted – is an unbelievable storyline.
Ukraine – Quarter-Finals – 30/06/2006
Into the quarter-finals, Lippi partnered Totti with Toni, just as he had for the first two matches of the group stage. This was his ideal tandem. In the mix of starting lineups and fitness concerns, the legendary manager had the player he deemed “irreplaceable” as the first name on the chalkboard.
In full form after the match winner against Australia. The trials were done and the gloves were off, now Totti was truly at the heart of the Tricolore attack.
Angelic comeback
Totti stepped into a mental space that few opponents ever survived. There was that confidence rushing through him, the same it takes to even think about attempting a Cucchiaio against a top keeper. It seemed a heavenly light shone down from St. Peter’s gates as he was back to his best for an angelic comeback. This however, was a bad omen for Ukraine.
“With Totti behind us, though, it’s something altogether different. At his position, if he’s healthy, Francesco is the best player in the world” – Luca Toni, May 2006
Totti dismantled Andriy Shevchenko and co. There was nothing ‘close’ about this quarter-final. The 50,000 in Hamburg were treated to a show, as Er Pupone played a give-and-go back-heel to Gianluca Zambrotta. Now marauding into open space, too quick for Ukraine to pick up on, the defender ripped a long range shot past the keeper for the first goal of the match.
From there, it was a Totti masterclass. He made the ball dance for him, a free-form ballet more akin to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker than a football match. He played a minimum of ten one-touch flick-ons and back heels leading his teammates into space. If you think your author is just fluffing it up, have a watch:
It was Totti’s best performance of the tournament, perhaps owed to that little extra bit of rest, as he played a hand in 14 shot attempts.
But facing Germany was another thing altogether. They were the host country, embracing their own golden generation. From the tournament organizers and the volunteers, down to the bellboys at hotel check-in, all energy was naturally pushed in favour of Die Mannschaft.
Germany – Semi-finals – 04/07/2006
The hotel accommodations in Dortmund were anything but ‘accommodating,’ with cramped rooms and beds from yesteryear, to try and disrupt a good night’s rest for the Azzurri. They just took as more motivation to get the job done, as a special feeling of belief had now overcome the squad. Although Germany had so much going for them, there was an ominous feeling for the home side that spanned through the entire Bundesland given their history with Italy. Germany had never beaten Italy in a competitive match, and the taboo felt tangible. In the Italian camp, Lippi kept them grounded, and more so, knew his side were better, but had to beat them in 90 minutes. They had to eliminate any chance of some patriotic uprising in the fatherland – eliminate the fan adrenaline, and execute on the pitch.
The starting lineup was black tie business. Totti started behind Toni, with Perrotta on the flank, while Pirlo and Gattuso supplied him from their usual deep-midfield roles. The leg after a full 90’ just five days prior? It was feeling great. Er Pupone was fully back, and at the apex of his career. He would need the fitness, because that night in Germany would go the distance.
Lippi’s tactics
Lippi’s tactics remained the same as they did throughout the entire tournament – get the ball settled, string passes together and build the play via Pirlo, or with a quick ball to Totti who would remain free to roam behind Toni.
In the first free kick, Totti took his chance from a distance closer to the centre circle than to Jens Lehmann’s net. It actually skinned a German defender before reaching the keeper’s gloves, in what must have been one of the hardest-hit shots of the tournament.
Play stagnated in the second half with both sides struggling to build and get inside the final third. Then receiving the ball off a clearance, Totti turned from the left in his own half, as the German midfield looked more to block the passing lanes than to actually stop Totti from getting the pass off (they knew better). A diagonal run to the left, a cut sideways once again to stop the ball and survey the runners. Then one more push centrally to allow the runners to open up the lanes.
He found Perrotta with a no look long-ball, against the direction of his hips, it was a play they pulled time and time again with each other at club level. The outside midfielder’s touch just let him down at the very end.
“Every time he renewed his contract, Simone hugged me, telling me, ‘All thanks to the perfect balls you give me.’”
Quietness took control
Another chance between the two of them again, when Totti flicked the ball over the top of the German defence with the outside of his right boot. But once again, Perrotta found himself beat by the keeper and the score remained in a deadlock. Extra time in a choppy match was exactly where the Azzurri did not want to be against the host nation.
But in the first half of added play, a certain quietness took control over the stadium. It was eerie, perhaps a bit of disbelief had come over the German camp. The Italian determination was getting to them, and Lippi went for the jugular by introducing striker Vincenzo Iaquinta for Camoranesi, and then Del Piero for Perrotta. Attackers, the defence, a playmaker, and Gattuso left alone in the middle of the pitch to cover a regional territory. It was the equivalent of putting all your cash on your birthdate in roulette, just because of that oh-so-special feeling.
Shocking no-call
Then, Gilardino ought to have found Iaquinta – or Totti – higher in the box when his effort hit the post. Hard to blame the poacher though, who had fresh legs after swapping with Toni. Zambrotta then slammed the post too. Would Lippi’s belief in destiny turn true?
But what was a foul on Totti, clear as day, was a shocking no-call that allowed the Germans to counter for their most dangerous opportunity of the night. Lucas Podolski’s header went off target, and at that point the match was played on two fronts with very few players in between No Man’s Land. Buffon was then forced into a high powered save from Podolski’s rip, and Pirlo matched the attempt just moments later.
Success is never imminent, but in this match, for Italy not to win after such determination and courageous approach would have been a sporting felony.
Disbelief
With two minutes remaining in extra time, Italy went for the jugular. In the 119’, Del Piero’s corner was deflected to the penalty box arc, landing to a player who handled it so effortlessly as his long flowing hair breezed ever so slightly. And with one shimmy to the right, Pirlo’s no-look pass deceived more than 81,400 onlookers – including those on the pitch, as it sifted past the German defence and onto Grosso’s left boot as he one-timed the shot, curling into the opposite corner of the net. Disbelief, but merited.
And at the true death of the match, Cannavaro followed through on his blocking header, hopping on his horse to dribble into the midfield to spite Germany’s ultimate attempt.
Totti, though, took the ball off his foot to prevent Italy’s most essential defender from exposing the back. The playmaker unlocked the galloping Gilardino down the left. Del Piero made the run behind his back, with three of Italy’s most iconic forwards linking up to destroy German dreams once and for all.
It was an iconic conclusion to send Italy to Berlin, and while Totti had a terrific match, he showed his worth as a team player as well, rather than just Rome’s superstar. It was an important takeaway, an essential part of the squad’s fabric as they needed one last push for the final. For Totti, it also came as a reminder to the limits of the body for even a freakishly fortuitous injury-healer like himself.
France – World Cup Final – 09/07/2006
The 2006 World Cup Final had to be about as even of a playing field that the sport could manifest. France had the advantage for contemporary experience, and were brimming with confidence after knocking out tournament favourites Brazil. Les Blues still retained a few champions from their 1998 World Cup victory as well, including Fabien Barthez in net, Lilian Thuram marshalling the defence, and Zinedine Zidane, who was considered the greatest midfielder of all time. He had a dominant match against Spain in the Round of 16, bouncing back to his prime years, and scored the winning penalty over Portugal in the semi-final
Lippi’s regulars were tipped for the start, but there was one major tactical switch. Prior to the final, Totti had always been given the free role between the solid-core midfield of Gattuso and Pirlo and Toni’s encompassing movement at the top. Similar to the deployment for the majority of his career, and even though he lined up differently on paper with Spalletti, the role let him do what he did best.
Suffocating midfield
But in preparation for facing an adversary who was stockpiled in every department, Lippi needed someone to disrupt Claude Makelele’s presence. The French defensive midfielder was more than a disruptor, he was the man who balanced the entire line and if Totti played close to him, it would disconnect the French connection and distract him from closing Italian half-spaces and passing lanes.
But Totti was unable to do both. He couldn’t be himself, amid a suffocating midfield, while keeping one eye on his adversary. To recover and make it for the World Cup was a miracle in itself, but as the matches piled on with just a few days of rest between, it affected those who came into the tournament in top condition, let alone those who were recovering from career threatening injuries with metal compounds in their leg.
In the span of less than a month, he logged 468 minutes in greulling tournament play. The crux of it came just five days prior as he played both halves and the full amount of extra time against Germany. This was on top of a full match just five days before that. Totti had reached the limit of the human body, and Lippi begrudgingly realized it. Having played just an hour, the substitution board had ‘10’ in red, with ‘4’ in green. If he had to pass the torch, at least it was to De Rossi, and give him a chance to vindicate himself.
Required to support
From this point forward, Totti had to hope that his teammates could pull through against the 1998 tournament champions. In turn, he was now required to support and spur his teammates on from an unfamiliar ‘position,’ and did so graciously. Totti too, knew that he’d given everything he possibly could. To be a protagonist in helping Italy get this far was a miracle, but ultimately, football is a team game. And being a great teammate was something he could do too.
Grosso ran away from the penalty spot shaking his head frantically back and forth, and his teammates sprinted towards him in a blind euphoria. We know how this ends, Italy’s most glorious day in the last 50 years.
Crucial contributions
Totti was embraced as a teammate, above all else. His contributions were crucial to Italy winning the 2006 World Cup. He co-led the tournament with four assists, and adding in the penalty meant he was involved for the most goals of Azzurri players. His superhuman recovery was a testament to what a human could achieve with support and love, and above all else, belief in ones self to achieve something greater. For him, for Rome, the country, sake of a sportsman’s will, and the fortitude of the last Caesar.
“It seems as if when he was born, the heavenly father said: ‘Go down there and play football and that’s it.’ And he did what he was prescribed to do.” – Luigi Riva
“ When the Roma forward went off just over an hour into last night’s final it was almost certainly the end of his international career and this had been another occasion, indeed a third straight major tournament, at which he has failed to be a dominant force.” https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/jul/10/worldcup2006.sport2
During the seven matches, Totti contributed four assists, which was tied for the tournament lead. His combination of one goal and four assists meant Totti had the most direct involvement in Azzurri goals of any player in the tournament.
Words by Wayne Girard @wgirard10