FRANCESCO TOTTI WAS planning to miss his final penalty for Roma if presented with an opportunity, Juan Jesus has revealed.
After 25 seasons as part of the first-team set-up in the Italian capital, a club icon bid farewell to Stadio Olimpico on the final day of the 2016-17 Serie A season.
He stepped off the bench during a meeting with Genoa — a game Roma needed to win to wrap up a runner-up finish and a guaranteed place in the Champions League group stage.
They eventually dug out a 3-2 victory, but there was no opportunity for Totti to complete a bizarre send-off by firing a spot-kick into the stands.
Roma colleague Juan Jesus told Radio Atlantida: “He was nervous all week.
“One day he would say, ‘I’m quitting,’ and the next he would be, ‘I’m going to keep playing’.
Before Roma-Genoa, we all got together in the dressing room and he said, ‘If I get a penalty, I won’t score it, I’ll kick the ball into the Curva [Sud]’.
“There wasn’t a penalty so instead he sent an autographed ball into the Curva after the game.
“Totti is a fantastic person and he deserves far more than just that party. He’s somebody who helps those in need a lot, without anybody needing to know about it.
We’re honoured to have played alongside him in this, his final season with Roma. He could have won a lot at other clubs because there are technically few around in the world like him.”
Totti ended his time at Roma with 307 goals in 786 appearances.
He won the Serie A title, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana during a distinguished club career, while tasting World Cup glory with Italy in 2006.
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