I'm thinking, in particular, of things like a proper section devoted to details of the club's history. And here I will lean, from time to time, on the Avvocato to contribute snippets on Agostino, for instance, and other details and memories from his time at the club in the late-20s and the early 30s. Sorry, sorry, late 70s and early 80s. At its simplest level, this will be one way of preserving pieces like the various homages to di Bartolomei that he's added from time to time. Pieces which have tended to be lost over the years. Others might concoct somthing on Rollo or on the thrills and spills of FanAntonio's time in giallorosso.
At the same time, I wonder if we might be able to come up with some interesting threads on our current players – combining multimedia clips or links of goals or notable moments, narratives of their history and memorable performances, anecdotal snippets, tactical observations, and the rest. If we all add contributions then perhaps I, or others, can eventually weave the disparate contributions into a single narrative piece, always open for further additions.
So, to get things started, how about something on DDR on his birthday – memories or observations, details which ought to be the stuff of a DDR page.
Here is Wikipedia’s offering as a starting point:
De Rossi, born in Rome and a product of the A.S. Roma youth system (where his father, former Roma player Alberto De Rossi, is a coach), made his first-team debut in October 2001 against Belgian side RSC Anderlecht in the UEFA Champions League. He made his Serie A debut on 3 May 2003; his first Serie A start, and his first goal, came one week later against Torino Calcio.
After graduating from the A.S. Roma youth set-up, De Rossi has gradually become a key midfield player for the club. Strong, with good vision on the ball and a combative mentality, De Rossi won the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and in the same year collected a bronze medal with the Italy national football team at the Athens Olympics.A few weeks after returning from Greece, De Rossi earned his first cap in the senior squad, scoring on his debut in the 2006 FIFA World Cupâ„¢ qualifying game against Norway (2-1).
De Rossi was praised by referee Mauro Bergonzi after he had scored a goal with his hand in a match against Messina. Bergonzi allowed the goal until De Rossi showed a great piece of fair play when admitting to the referee that he had pushed the ball in with his hand, the goal was disallowed and Roma went on to win 2-1.
De Rossi was named to the Italian national team in 2006. During a 2006 FIFA World Cup group play match against the United States, De Rossi received a straight red card after he elbowed Brian McBride in the face. McBride left the pitch bloodied, but returned after treatment and later required three stitches. De Rossi later apologized to McBride (who subsequently praised De Rossi as "classy" for approaching him after the match). [1] De Rossi was banned for four matches and fined CHF 10,000.[2]
De Rossi returned for Italy in the final, coming on as a substitute on the 61st minute for Roma team mate Francesco Totti. In the penalty shoot-out at the end of the match (which finished 1-1) De Rossi scored Italy's third penalty to help his country win their fourth FIFA World Cup.
De Rossi has played in all of Italy's Euro 2008 qualifying games thus far, scoring a goal against Georgia, he even has been given the honour of wearing the number 10 shirt since team mate Francesco Totti has not returned to the Azzurri since the World Cup final.
My first clear memories of DDR come with his breaking into the senior squad at the end of that season in 2003 under Crapello when we were crying out for the young boy to be given a chance to show what he could do. We have, then, reluctantly to thank Crapello for giving DDR his chance but, much more forcefully, for being, as I understand it, the key figure in the club refusing to include DDR in any deal for Legrottaglie at the end of that season. Legrottaglie was coming off a fine season with Chievo and we were clamouring for a quality centre-back to partner the Wall. Negotiations for Legrottaglie were painfully slow and complicated, primarily because Chievo wanted to snare DDR as part of the deal. In the end Rubentus swooped for him and we were left, in the end, with one of the very finest young central midfielders in the world and with a defensive pairing of Samuel and Chivu. Not Moggi’s finest hour. Bless.
There is much that we can say about DDR, as a true Roman and Romanista, the future captain of La Magica, a player of formidable personal, physical, and technical qualities. He is, I think, the complete central midfielder, defensively as good as just about anyone, comfortable on the ball, and capable of getting forward and scoring goals, both from long range with his rocket of a shot and in the air – I think at once of the disallowed goal against Lyon.
Spalletti has him now playing more defensively. When he was playing alongside Emerson or Dacourt or Rollo he had more licence to get forward; alongside Pizarro his role is as the true anchorman in the midfield, protecting the back four. In many ways this can limit his game; at the same time, his importance to the tactical shape of the side was revealed last season on the few occasions on which he was caught out of position, leaving the centre-backs exposed. Villa’s goal in the first match against Valencia sticks in my mind: on the one occasion on which DDR was caught on the wrong side of the ball, Valencia (through Moretti, I think) were able to drive at the unprotected defence and a goal was conceded. Strong in the air, positionally polished, and crunching in the tackle, he is a complete holding player. He is the heart and soul of the side’s midfield; that it was De Rossi who scored the late goal at Old Trafford was emblematic as was his completely cheerless lack of celebration. He is a true team player, totally committed and totally loyal to Roma.
I will leave it to others to point out the negative side to his commitment – perhaps one can say simply that his tackles aren’t always quite perfectly timed? His lowest ebb came in the World Cup, with his sending off for an ugly elbow on McBride and the suspension that came with it which ruled him out of Italy’s run to the final. And yet the his qualities are revealed here too, since he returned to the side to replace Perrotta in the second half of the final and, then, coolly to slot a penalty in the shoot-out as the Azzurri sealed their triumph. His qualities are shown not so much in the fact that he so calmly slotted his penalty under such exceptional personal pressure – one could almost expect that from him – but in the fact that he was asked to take a penalty in the first place, in the fact that Lippi had no hesitation in turning to his young midfielder.
De Rossi is the present and the future of La Magica and of the Azzurri. To see him run the midfield alongside the little eagle is surely one of the greatest joys for any Romanista.
