Francesco Totti gave his thoughts on the idea of seeing more Argentine-born players in the Italian national team and the work of Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli this season.
Azzurri coach Roberto Mancini surprised many by calling up 23-year-old Tigre striker Mateo Retegui for Italy’s first two Euro 2024 qualifiers against England and Malta, a gamble that paid off as the Argentine-born striker scored in both matches.
Mancini is now expected to call up a few more ‘Oriundi’ – people born abroad with Italian heritage – to the national team in the coming months, giving him more options as he works to reinvent the squad.
Speaking to Sky Sports Italia, Totti first discussed when he personally discovered Retegui.
“I saw him in some videos and he impressed me on the physical, mental and hard-working side. I didn’t point him out to Mancini, he’s a guy who deserves it and he has a family that helps him behind him. I think he will have a good future.”
He was asked if the increased usage of Oriundi was good for Italian football.
“It was a different time when we played, everyone was from their own country but now football has changed and Mancini has problems at the moment, especially going forward. But I would focus on the youth system, to grow our talents.”
The Roma legend commented on the work of Spalletti’s Napoli this campaign.
“I knew they were a good team with a great coach, a well-made combination. They did their best and were lucky not to have a team behind that could keep up.
“When I was playing there was Juventus or Inter who, if you had 20 wins, had 19. That wasn’t the case this year.”
Totti did not want to give his thoughts on Jose Mourinho’s Roma.
“I don’t talk about them, otherwise people will say I did or said something wrong. They can reach the Champions League spots and I hope they do well in the Europa League, where they can go all the way.
“The thing that counts is results, then if you play well or play badly it doesn’t matter.”
He touched on the future of coach Antonio Conte, who left Tottenham on Sunday.
“Antonio has many choices and possibilities. I think he will take his time to decide which is the best place to start working again.”
Finally, Totti was asked why Tammy Abraham and Andrea Belotti are having trouble finding the back of the net this season.
“I don’t know, I hope that in the last ten games they can score a lot.”