On This Day: Daniele De Rossi makes his debut!

18 years (and 98 days) was also his age when he made his debut on 30 October 2001, at the Stadio Olimpico against Anderlecht in the Champions League – Roma’s sixth group game that season, having already qualified for the knockout rounds.

A blond-haired kid, wearing the No.27 shirt, came on for Ivan Tomic with 20 minutes left to play.

That was his competitive debut for the Giallorossi, even before his Serie A bow in Piacenza against Como, in 2003.

On both occasions, Fabio Capello was the coach who handed him the opportunity.

“I’m going to let your horse loose tomorrow,” Capello had told Mauro Bencivenga the day before the Como game. Bencivenga was the coach who had turned Daniele from a forward into a midfielder in Giallorossi academy.

De Rossi slowly established himself in the Giallorossi midfield in the first half of the noughties, becoming a permanent fixture following Emersen’s departure.

Another key figure in his development was Luciano Spalletti. “The coach who influenced me the most,” the Roma No.16 admitted years later.

Spalletti placed him at the heart of the team from 2005, considering him to be Roma’s holding midfielder for the present and future: “He’s decisive in front of the defence. He doesn’t even realise how good he can become.”

De Rossi demonstrated his leadership skills on 15 March 2006 when, with Francesco Totti sidelined following the Richard Vanigli incident, he took the captain’s armband for the first time from kick-off.

It was the UEFA Cup last-16 return leg against Middlesbrough, a side with the likes of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Gaizka Mendieta among their ranks.

Roma won 2-1 thanks to Mancini’s double but were unable to overturn the 1-0 first-leg defeat in England.

That was De Rossi’s first appearance as captain, with another 206 to follow. That piece of cloth always carried a special meaning for him. And he used it to pay homage to the Giallorossi faithful, taking a line from a stadium chant: “Sei tu l’unica mia sposa” ('You are my only bride')

His 100th match as captain came nine years after 2006, under the San Siro floodlights against AC Milan on 10 May 2015. Rudi Garcia was in charge by then – the man who helped get Roma back on track after the 2012-13 season.

With a bit of help from De Rossi, whose long-range screamer set Roma on the way to victory in their opening game of the season at Livorno. The first of 10 consecutive victories.

More numbers. Like his shirts: 27, 4 and 16 - the last of which he wore from 2005 to 2019, the end of his Roma career.

But what a career it was - one that started on this day in 2001.