Totti spent his entire career at Roma, having joined the club’s youth academy in 1989 before featuring for the senior team in 1992. The Italian made 786 appearances for the club, scoring 307 goals over 25 years, 250 of which came in the Serie A. Totti thus holds the record for the most capped player as well as the highest goal scorer for AS Roma. He’s also the youngest captain in the club’s and in Serie A’s history
Over the course of his career, he has won several individual accolades including the Serie A Player of the Year in 2000 and 2003, the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2007, and the Golden Boot in the 2006-07 season.
However, despite his remarkable achievements, Roma won the Serie A just once – in 2000/01 – under the tutelage of Fabio Capello. I Giallorossi won the league on the very last day after a 3-1 win over fourth-placed Parma, edging out Juventus by two points.
Back then, the Roma team had some very big names who went on to have stellar careers and also some lesser known players who faded away into obscurity. Let’s take a look at what the Roma Playing XI back then are doing now.
Goalkeeper – Francesco Antonioli
Antonioli was the first choice keeper for Roma throughout the season and kept seven clean sheets. He left Roma in 2003 after a four-year spell and this was followed by three-year spells with Sampdoria, Bologna (his second stint with the club), and Cesena before he retired from club football in 2012 at the age of 33, after making nearly 700 appearances.
Antonioli was also a part of the Italian team that finished runners-up at Euro 2000, replacing the injured Gianluigi Buffon just before the tournament. However, he did not make any appearances for the national team. Antonioli is currently the goalkeeping coach of Cesena and has held the position since 2013.
Defenders
Jonathan Zebina
France’s Jonathan Zebina, who had begun his footballing career as a striker, had just joined Roma and the 22-year-old center-back played 22 matches throughout the season. Zebina’s stint with Roma prompted several big European clubs to make offers for him and he rejected moves to Liverpool, Chelsea, and AC Milan to join Juventus.
Zebina was a regular for Juventus till the 2007-08 season after which he received stiff competition from Czech defender Zdenek Grygera. He eventually left Juventus in 2010 and following this, had short stints at Brescia, Brest, Toulouse, and Arles-Avignon before retiring in 2014.
Zebina also played one match for the France national team against Sweden in 2005 when Les Bleus were coached by Jacques Santini. However, after Santini’s departure, Zebina fell out with new coach Raymond Domenech and was never called up to the national team again.
Walter Samuel
Considered to be one of the finest centre-backs of his time, Walter Samuel joined Roma during the 2000-01 season and played a crucial role in their league triumph, featuring in 31 matches. Samuel was a regular at Roma until his departure to Real Madrid in 2004 for a fee of €25 million. He played for one season at Real Madrid before being transferred to Internazionale for a fee of €16 million.
Samuel had a brilliant stint at Inter and was a crucial fixture in the side’s run to the Champions League title in 2010. Aside from the Champions League, Samuel won five Serie A titles, 3 Coppa Italia titles, 4 Super Coppa Italia titles, and the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup. He was also named the Serie A Defender of the Year in 2010 alongside Giorgio Chiellini. The Argentine left the club in 2014 and went to Switzerland where he played for FC Basel for two years before retiring from football in 2016.
Following his retirement from football, he rejoined Inter Milan as a part of their backroom staff under then newly-appointed coach Stefano Pioli.
Antonio Zago
Zago was another crucial member of the Roma defence and played 28 matches throughout the season. He stayed at Roma till 2002 and then played two seasons in Turkey at Besiktas before moving to his homeland Brazil where he played for Santos and Juventude before retiring from the game in 2007, aged 38.
Zago also played for the Brazilian national team from 1991-2001 and was a part of two Copa America squads in 1993 and 1999, winning the latter tournament.
Following his retirement from football, Zago managed eight clubs and was the assistant coach for Roma in 2013. Most recently, he was the manager of Brazilian club Internacional before getting the sack a few days ago.
Cafu
One of the greatest defenders of all-time, Cafu spent six years in Rome and was one of the best players in the 2000-01 Serie A season. Cafu left Roma in 2003 after making 163 league appearances and went to AC Milan where he helped the club win the Scudetto in his very first season. He later helped the club win the Champions League in 2007 before retiring from football a year later in 2008.
Cafu played for Brazil from 1990-2006 and is the country’s most capped player with 142 appearances, and five goals. He was a part of two FIFA World Cup-winning squads – in 1994 and 2002. He retired from international football following the 2006 World Cup.
Cafu was inducted into the AS Roma Hall of Fame in 2012 and will feature in the Ultimate Champions Match at Cardiff as a part of Emilio Butragueno’s All Stars alongside the likes of Robert Pires, David Trezeguet, Gianluca Zambrotta, and Dejan Stankovic.
Vincent Candela
France left-back Vincent Candela’s best phase of his career was during his eight-year stay at Roma. He was instrumental in Roma winning the 2000-01 Serie A, scoring three goals and keeping numerous clean sheets. He left Roma in 2005 and had short spells at Bolton Wanderers, Udinese, and Siena before retiring at Messina in 2007 while on loan from Siena. Candela was inducted into the AS Roma Hall of Fame in 2014.
He also played for France and was a part of the team that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, playing three games in both tournaments combined. Following his retirement, Candela featured as a dubbing actor in the Italian version of Shaolin Soccer and also took part in the Italian version of Dancing With The Stars.
Midfielders
Damiano Tommasi
Tommasi joined Roma in 1996 and played for the club till 2006. He scored three goals during Roma’s successful 2000-01 Serie A campaign. After leaving Roma, Tommasi had short spells at France, Italy and China before retiring in 2015. He was inducted into the AS Roma Hall of Fame in 2015.
Following his retirement, Tommasi opened a company in China along with his agent and friend called Tommasi Pretti Seeber Sports Culture & Exchange Co. Ltd. He is currently the President of the Italian Footballers’ Association.
Emerson
Emerson, who had just joined Roma, played 13 matches during the 2000-01 season, scoring three goals. He became a regular for Roma following that season and stayed at the club for another three years before moving to Juventus in 2004. Emerson played for Juventus for two seasons before leaving the club following their relegation to Serie B due to a match-fixing scandal that saw them being stripped of the two Serie A titles they had won in 2004-05 and 2005-06.
After leaving the Old Lady, the Brazilian had short spells with Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Santos before retiring from professional football in 2009. Emerson joined Miami-Dade FC, an American amateur football club in 2016.
Forwards
Francesco Totti
The skipper of the Roma team had already established himself as one of the world’s top footballers back then and scored 13 goals in Roma’s victorious 2000-01 season. Totti scored the first goal in Roma’s 3-1 win over Parma on the final match day. The Italian continued to play for the Giallorossi and remained the club’s skipper until his retirement a few days ago.
Following his retirement from football, Totti will take up a directorial role with his boyhood club.
Gabriel Batistuta
One of the most prolific strikers of his generation, Gabriel Batistuta joined Roma in 2000 after a nine-year stint with Fiorentina. Batistuta was Roma’s top scorer during the 2000-01 season with 20 goals and scored the third and final goal in Roma’s 3-1 win over Parma. Batistuta endured a poor run of form during the 2002-03 season and was loaned to Inter where he had another disappointing spell. Following this, Batistuta went to Qatari club Al Arabi where he scored 25 goals in 21 matches before retiring in 2005. Batistuta was inducted
Following this, he went to Qatari club Al Arabi where he scored 25 goals in 21 matches before retiring in 2005. Batistuta was inducted into the AS Roma Hall of Fame in 2015.
Batistuta played for Argentina from 1991-2002, scoring 56 goals in 78 matches and was their all-time top scorer until Lionel Messi arrived on the scene. He won two consecutive Copa Americas and the inaugural FIFA Confederations Cup in 1992. Batistuta is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in two FIFA World Cups, achieving these feats in 1994 and 1998 against Greece and Jamaica respectively.
Vincenzo Montella
Montella was one of the key players in Roma’s Serie A triumph, scoring 14 goals in the season. Montella had a few loan spells with Fulham and Sampdoria but stayed at Roma until his retirement from football in 2009.
Following his retirement, the Italian coached Roma’s U-15 side from 2009-2011 and was the interim manager of the team after Claudio Ranieri’s retirement during the 2010-11 season. Under Montella, Roma won seven out of 13 league games, drawing three and losing as many.
Montella left Roma to become the manager of Catania for one season, following which he was named Fiorentina’s manager for three years before getting the sack. He managed Sampdoria for a year before becoming the manager of AC Milan in 2016.
