Why Francesco Totti had planned to miss a penalty in final ever Roma match

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By Kyran Pick

Published Jun 9, 2017

Totti made his 785th and final Roma appearance during the 3-2 win over Genoa last month

Francesco Totti is now facing one of toughest decisions of his entire career.

After spending 25 years at Roma, the Italian legend played his final game for the club just a few weeks ago.

What he will do next is yet to be revealed. The 40-year-old has received an offer to stay at Roma in a role behind the scenes but reports earlier this week suggested Serie B side Pescara were interested in providing him a trial should he wish to continue playing.

Totti is believed to be keen to keep putting his boots on for a little longer yet although you could certainly understand if he did decide to call time on his playing career.

In his last appearance, the forward came on to play just over half an hour of Roma's 3-2 win over Genoa and was visibly upset by full-time.

During an era when footballers get heavily criticised for their lack of passion, Totti's reaction melted hearts around the world.

Unfortunately, he was unable to find the back of the net but a story has emerged to suggest he would have passed up the opportunity even he was given the chance to end his Roma spell with a goal.

That's because Totti's teammate Juan Jesus has claimed the Roma stalwart was going to purposefully miss a penalty had Luciano Spalletti's men been awarded one.

Hard to believe, right?

But once you hear Totti's reasoning, the 40-year-old is bound to go up in your estimations even further - if that's actually possible.

"Before his last game, Totti told us that if he had a penalty he would not score and he would send the ball to the Tifosi (Roma fans)," Jesus apparently told a radio station in his country, as per L'Equipe.

As gestures go, it's a bit of a strange one but Totti has never been one to follow the crowd.