Totti Hanging Up His Azzurri Kit?

By: Martha | January 8th, 2007

Il Senor Totti Say it ain’t so!

Since Italy’s victory in Germany last summer, Francesco Totti has been “on leave” from the under-performing national team, supposedly getting healthy. Every time either he or Donadoni is asked about the break, they all say the right things: There’s no problem; Everything’s fine; We love everybody. And yet rumors persist that all is not well between the two men, and recently mutterings suggest that Totti may have played his last game for the national team — even Totti himself is getting into the act, telling the press: “I don’t know if I’ll return to the national team.” DOH!

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this look a LOT like the Alan Shearer situation of a few years back. (Apart from the fact that the England man officially retired from international play rather than wandering off.) Shearer was just a year or two older (if that) than Totti is now, and the moment he stopped playing for England, his domestic form when through the roof. People instantly started clamoring for his return to the national team, but Shearer was smart enough to know that rest and form — at least for an old man — were directly related, so he stood his ground and just kept banging in goals for Newcastle. And, honestly, as much as I’d love to see Totti bring his current form into the nation side, I would totally understand if he hung it up. He’s not getting any younger, and his body surely appreciates the extra rest it’s been getting since the start of the season, now that he’s not turning up for international duty. That said, though, it’d be nice for him to play a farewell match — you know, a nice, safe friendly against Bahrain, or something — just so he could be properly adored one last time.