In an exclusive interview, the former Roma captain talks destiny, never leaving his hometown club and not letting his son beat him at pinball
![Francesco Totti: ‘In my time football was made of love. Today it’s more business’](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2077575c59e1e08d0e45d8b8bd6f11a1d7a96f64/221_109_3322_1993/master/3322.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=6c9be2c3dede4be358ad26ddedd2051d)
An hour into a conversation that has ranged from childhood TV favourites to the challenges of retirement, reflecting on destiny and “what if” moments that defined a career, I stumble into one topic that Francesco Totti considers taboo. All it took was a question about whether he lets his 15-year-old son, Cristian, beat him at pinball.
“No!” he exclaims, fixing me with incredulous eyes from the other end of our Zoom call. “Things have to be earned, not given!”