Honour to Francesco Totti, eternal symbol of AS Roma, but the title of eighth King of Rome does not belong to him. In fact, it was given, together with the nickname of Divine, to Paulo Roberto Falcao, 70 years old tomorrow, a Brazilian midfielder who landed in the Italian capital, to the happiness of his very Catholic mother Azise in the summer of 1980, heated by the first football-betting scandal.
The Giallorossi people were waiting for Zico, because it was no secret that president Dino Viola was aiming for the Flamengo star idol of Rio, and instead this player arrived who at that time did not move the hearts of Roma but who in his homeland had dragged three times to the national title, that of the 'Brasilerao', the Internacional of Porto Alegre with whom he had also won five regional championships (in his case of Rio Grande do Sul) than in Brazil they are almost as important.
The local TV stations that at the time were teeming in the Roman ether were taken aback, rich as they were in video cassettes with Zico's feats but without images of what, instead, had been the new purchase, presented in Via del Circo Massimo together with the lawyer Christopher Columbus, and that day the figure of the prosecutor was born. But it was enough to see Falcao on the pitch for the first time in the Roma shirt and the fans of the 'Magica' immediately fell in love with him. That player with the No. 5 shirt, in fact, always sorted the ball first, he was not afraid of tackles and indeed he looked for them by performing them even in the 'carrinho', he was easily unmarked because he ran continuously, he never attempted effect plays or dribbles, he rarely performed in the backheel shots but when he did it was pure magic, as when, with such a feat, he sent Pruzzo into the goal.
Also for this reason, and for having transformed the 'Rometta' into a Scudetto team, one won and another (that of the disallowed goal in Turone) still regretted, the passion of the Roma people for Falcao has never waned, and you can see it every time he comes back invited for some event. The Divine has even been forgiven for the fact that he did not want to take the penalty in the European Cup final lost from the penalty spot, and at home, against Liverpool, the most painful memory for all Roma fans. "I had cramps, and then I've never been a penalty taker," explained the Divine, who was the protagonist of a performance that was not up to par against the Reds. There were also those who wrote that he was already thinking about a transfer to Inter, which then did not materialize due to the intervention of the excellent Roma player Giulio Andreotti.
In Brazil he had discovered him, and launched into the first team of Internacional, another champion who was Falcao's model, namely Dino Sani, and immediately it was the Olympics, that of Munich 1972 with the Seleçao. Then the mutual dislike with the coach of the time Claudio Coutinho, a tough former army captain, had cost him the call-up for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Four years later, however, he took part in those of 1982 in Spain, he had the No. 15 jersey because the 5 was Cerezo's and the other starter at the beginning was Batista, but soon he stole the place from the one who would go to play for Lazio the following year. So Falcao risked becoming the 'killer' of Bearzot's Italy's dreams of glory, with that goal at Sarrià that unleashed the torch until Paolo Rossi's third masterpiece.
The Two-Time 'Boula de Oro' from Porto Alegre was also called up for Mexico '86 but was not in condition due to recurring knee problems, and in the decisive match against France he was preferred Elzo, his presumed heir also in Internacional. At that time the agreement with Roma had already been terminated for "breach of contract", the Fiorentina of Pontello had not wanted to offer him a contract because they did not trust him, in the end the Divine had gone to the San Paolo. It doesn't matter, because for the people of Rome, Paulo Roberto Falcao remains one great love, one of those who, as one of the songs dedicated to the team says, "make you feel important even if you don't count for anything".
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