ROME - He was already considered out of the ordinary in the world of football due to his genuineness, for his moral standards, for his charity initiatives off the pitch. However, Damiano Tommasi, 31 years of age from Negrar in the Verona area, has really shocked everyone this time by signing a contract with the Rome Football Club for an incredible sum: € 1,500.00, not a day as some of today’s most famous footballers earn, but a month, just like any normal employee in Italy. “I did it because I love the Rome Club and football”, this is how the middle-fielder candidly explained why he signed a one-year contract, the tenth consecutive one, again uniting him to the red and yellow team at the lowest minimum amount allowed by law. This amount was indicated through a precise request made by the player and it was not an economic offer made by the Rome Football Club, which proposed a “normal” contract and so, his decision created quite a din in the football world. Tommasi followed his declaration of love for the team with which he has spent almost all of his professional life, with facts. Tommasi began his professional career with the Verona Football Club in the B League and in the National under 21 team as a full back and arrived in Rome in September 1996 at the age of 23. The city immediately adopted him and he played under such coaches as Bianchi, Mazzone, Zeman and Capello in the same position, a tireless and irreplaceable support player. He is certainly not one of those players that can ignite a stadium with one of his extraordinary numbers but he is a player that gives more than 100% to the team. His relationship with the fans has never been idyllic especially during the years that Zeman was his coach and Tommasi was often booed and contested because of his simple way of playing that was completely opposite Zeman’s idea of entertaining football, anyway he often preferred him to the spectacular but inconstant Alenitchev. But he got his revenge with coach Capello: the peak of his career was the year Rome won the Italian Championships; he was the absolute star, the unmovable first string player, the fans all on his side applauding the recovery of the “Candid Soul” (nickname given to him by the Olimpico Stadium speaker, Carlo Zampa), improving his game technically, with a feeling for shooting goals for an interdictor, and a first string player for the national team at the 2002 World Cup Championship with coach Trapattoni.

Off the field, Tommasi was soon considered a different sort of player: his head is never in the clouds, his words are never trite, always moderate, always making good common sense and professing strong moral values such as those taught by the Catholic church (he was often an altar boy for the religious functions organised by the team during the pre-game retreat). He also does a lot of charity work. “This is very important because the kids see us as idols and we have to give a good example. Often football players are described as egoistic and vague, but this isn’t true and we are often involved in charity events. I try to do what I can, remembering that I am very lucky. I do a job that I love and I get a lot of money for doing it. This is a joy but also a big responsibility”, he once said during a conference at the University to which he was invited to talk to the young people. Tommasi spent almost the entire season in the infirmary the last year Capello coached the Rome team but Tommasi’s fate was even worse at the beginning of the next season. On July 22nd 2004, during the second pre-season match under coach Prandelli, a Stoke City player committed a bad foul on him and his knee “exploded”. The season ended before it began and his possibilities of recovery were dubious for many months. At the end of the season, Tommasi’s contract with Rome expires and the team wants to be sure that he has completely recovered before signing him up. The player also has some doubts on his career because he is not too sure that at age 31 he can be a part of the future program set up by coach Spalletti and the Rome Club. The two parties meet a couple of times, but the gossip around is that there will be a divorce. But then there is a surprise ending; Damiano Tommasi demonstrates on the pitch and through medical tests that he is physically fit; Rome offers him a new contract but he doesn’t want to become a part of the team at such high prices following months of inactivity, so he asks for the minimum union wage which is €1,500.00 a month and becomes both the new exception and the new example of Italian football.