AS Roma captain Francesco Totti today revealed he can’t wait to take on Real Madrid at the MCG on Saturday night even though he won’t get to face his good friend Iker Casillas.
Totti famously earnt a standing ovation from the home fans at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium after scoring against Casillas and again beat the former Spain No.1 when the two teams met in Dallas during last summer’s International Champions Cup.
However, with Casillas now no longer a part of the Madrid set-up, having recently left to join Porto, Totti will have a different goalkeeper to beat on Saturday night.
“I’m sorry that Casillas has left Real Madrid as he is a real icon of the club,” he said. “I’ve faced him on a few different occasions and met him off the pitch as well. He’s not only a great player but also a great person. However, it’s always special to play against Real Madrid, no matter who is playing. It is called a friendly match but there are never any friendly matches when we play Real Madrid as both clubs always want to win.”
Asked by the local media about his first impressions of Melbourne, Totti admitted that whilst he’s hasn’t been able to sample much of the city so far, he’s hoping that will change next week.
“It’s really nice to be here,” he enthused. “This is my first time in Australia and we’ve had a very warm welcome from everyone.
“So far we have only really seen the hotel and the training ground but it’s a nice city and hopefully over the next few days the coach may give us some time to see more of it.
“People ask me about that penalty I scored for Italy against Australia in the World Cup in 2006 but that’s football and thank God I scored it.”
Quizzed specifically about whether he would try to ‘sell’ Roma to Edin Dzeko when the Giallorossi face Manchester City on Tuesday night, Totti was giving nothing away.
“It’s not down to me to convince him,” he said of the Bosnian striker linked by the media with a move to Italy. “Anyway, Pjanic knows him very well. If he comes, he can help us. World class players can improve any team.”
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