Francesco Totti: Mr. Indecision

Francesco Totti does his best to endear himself to the Italian people yet again:

I tifosi vogliono sapere quando tornerò in azzurro, ma prima bisogna vedere se.... Tra me e Donadoni non c'è stato niente di particolare, ma non so ancora se tornerò in Nazionale. La finale di Berlino potrebbe essere stata la mia ultima partita con l'Italia.

"The fans want to know when I will return to the national team, but first I need to see.... Between me and Donadoni there are no specifics, but I don't know whether I will return again to the national team. The [world cup] final in Berlin could have been my last match with Italy."

Enough with this. Play or don't. If I were in Donadoni's postion, I would call him up for the next Euro 2008 qualifiers, and if he doesn't show, that's the end for him. All of the other stars, not only in Italy but throughout Europe and the world, perform their duty to their national teams with pride and without complaint. Only the most extenuating (and therefore temporary) circumstances earn players reprieve from NT duty. Of course, all players have the right to retire from their respective national teams. But when you're done, you're done. Totti had better be done.