Totti Today: Gianluca Mancini and Elena Linari’s Collaboration Is A Breath of Fresh Air

“My life is going to kill me. We all get angry when we realize that. But the anger is fear.” - Eric Roberts

I get the feeling only Romelu Lukaku knows why he feels it’s worth throwing his Inter Milan teammate’s moment of trauma back into the spotlight this week. By the time this episode of Totti Today is published, Belgium will likely have already kicked the ball out of play in the 10th minute of their Euro 2020 game against Denmark. The plan is to remind us all that Christian Eriksen had a heart attack just days ago, and commemorating that event is meant to achieve something. Even if I don’t get it, myself.

I’m 100% certain there’s a good intention behind the gesture but, if I’m Eriksen, I’d fancy my odds of recovery start by building on healthy memories of achievement as my fuel to get back on my feet. Not people making me the poster child of their own self-conscious fear and anger; the same limited (and yet relatable) spectrum of emotion that we all come face to face with whenever a shocking event reminds us that this can all end tomorrow.

Photo by Helios de la Rubia/Real Madrid via Getty Images

On a much lesser scale, football’s addiction to standing on ceremony is also playing out in Madrid, where a large section of Real’s fanbase is arguing over how to remember Sergio Ramos’ career. Then there’s Roma remembering the 20th anniversary of their last Serie A title, re-releasing a replica shirt, which is technically a replica of a replica, since they’re releasing it without the Kappa logo on the jersey. Everywhere you look this week, there’s a call to look back behind us.

Not only are people looking to remind us of what did happen, but what could have happened and even sift through the alternate realities of what never really happened in the first place.

That’s why it’s refreshing to see Gianluca Mancini—a player who could easily give in to temptation to just stew on his couch all summer from having to watch his Italy teammates carry on the business-end of the Euro 2020 campaign without him—move on to promoting local Roman football this week.

This morning saw Mancini collaborated with fellow Adidas-sponsored Roma defender Elena Linari, as both players used Adidas Italy’s connections to hop on board with Italian music artist Mahmood over social media. The three household names are promoting the newest Rome regeneration project from Calcio Sociale, itself a local Rome football academy that was born just a few years after Roma’s 2001 title win.

Over the last eleven years, Calcio Sociale has pushed for Rome’s southwest district of Corviale to get some life injected into it. It’s reportedly seen as an abandoned area beyond recovery, but the football academy wants to convert a nine-floor and 1.5 km building estate in the Corviale area, known as the Serpentine, into a state-of-the-art playground for Roma’s future athletes.

In a separate promotional ad, ex-Lazio defender and Italian football legend, Alessandro Nesta also promotes the same project with Mahmood. But enjoy the collaboration from Roma’s current number 23 and number 32 below for now: