La Prima Volta…Francesco Totti

La Prima Volta… a brand-new series, bringing to life the maiden goals that catalysed the careers of Serie A’s greatest forwards.

Season One: Italian Icons. Episode One: Francesco Totti.

Roma knew they had a prodigious talent on their hands. One that needed to be carefully nurtured.

Francesco Totti made his senior bow in March 1993, aged 16, patiently waiting another year before being handed his full debut. However, this cautious approach was turned on its head on the opening day of the 1994/95 season, when Carlo Mazzone thrust the teenager into the starting line-up against Foggia.

Mazzone was juggling his resources against the limit of three foreign players in the matchday squad. The inclusion of Jonas Thern, Aldair and Daniel Fonseca – a new arrival from Napoli – meant no place up front for Argentina international Abel Balbo.

A few days short of his 18^th birthday, the selection of Totti was a bold choice but one that spoke volumes of Mazzone’s faith in him. Any lingering questions about Totti’s standing within the squad were answered early in the game when Roma were awarded a free-kick 30 yards from goal.

The routine was taken straight from the Trigoria training ground; initiated by the captain Giuseppe Giannini, eventually teeing up Totti as the beneficiary for a strike at goal. The youngster’s piledriver whistled narrowly wide.

Oh so close! But he didn’t have to wait much longer.

Swedish midfielder Jonas Thern clipped the ball into the area. With his back to goal, Daniel Fonesca used his strength to hold off the defender and steer the ball into the path of the oncoming Totti. With no time to think, Totti’s instinctive left footed half-volley found the corner of the net.

For the very first time, Totti punched the air with delight as 60,000 Romans rejoiced.

“I’d imagined that first goal a million times, but under the Curva Sud. Under the Curva Nord, I didn’t know what to do…it was all a bit of a mess, but the real joy was inside me and it was beautiful”.

Totti would go on to accomplish this goalscoring feat 250 times over the course of his career, of course, always in a Roma shirt.

0:24, Thern crosses for Fonseca, who lays it back to Totti…

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