Federico Balzaretti recalls the unique experience of training with Francesco Totti at Roma. “You knew what was coming, but he’d get it in the goal anyway. Once he scored from 50 metres and we all walked off.”
The former full-back spoke to DAZN about his time with the Giallorossi and specifically their historic captain.
“Every day at the training ground it was like his lob against Inter at San Siro. The incredible thing was, you knew what was coming, but he’d get it in the goal anyway.
Federico Balzaretti recalls the unique experience of training with Francesco Totti at Roma. “You knew what was coming, but he’d get it in the goal anyway. Once he scored from 50 metres and we all walked off.”
The former full-back spoke to DAZN about his time with the Giallorossi and specifically their historic captain.
“Every day at the training ground it was like his lob against Inter at San Siro. The incredible thing was, you knew what was coming, but he’d get it in the goal anyway.
“It was a real show to watch him and he knew those who were on his side in the game between ranks would usually win. He felt the pressure to be Francesco Totti, even in training.
“I remember one day, he scored from 50 metres out. He was doing the usual thing of receiving the ball and threading it through, but this time he just spotted the goal and lobbed it from midfield.
“We all walked off the training ground and asked to call it a day, because it really wasn’t going to get any better than that.”
The pressure of being a Giallorossi icon did get to Totti when it came to the Derby della Capitale with arch-rivals Lazio.
“He really changed around that fixture, without doubt because of the responsibility he felt. He didn’t joke around as much in the week leading up to it. He gave me a great assist in the derby, it floated just over the head of a defender and just had to get on the end of it.
“Totti was so good at that, he knew how to pass it mere centimetres over the defender, he didn’t need more than that.”