Totti played a big part in Italy's run to its fourth World Cup title last summer, but was overshadowed by several of his teammates. Bob Martin/SI

In Rome, Totti is the undisputed king (at least as far as the red-and-yellow half is concerned). Yet worldwide, while he is undoubtedly respected, he fails to garner the accolades he enjoys at home. There are two main reasons for this and they tell us a little bit about the nature of fame and celebrity.

The first is that he is seen to have failed to have a genuine impact at international level with Italy or with Roma in the Champions League. This year marks the first time he has helped Roma reach the quarterfinals of the competition.

With Italy, he had a good Euro 2000, setting up what could have been the winning goal in the final against France. At the '02 World Cup, however, he floundered with the rest of the Azzurri and the enduring memory is his controversial ejection for diving against South Korea.

It went even worse at Euro '04. Frustrated by Christian Poulsen's close marking job in a game against Denmark, Totti spat at his opponent and was slapped with a six-game ban, which covered him in disgrace.

He wasn't fit going into the '06 World Cup -- he had rushed back from a knee injury in record time -- and while he played his part in Italy's victory (he slotted away a crucial injury-time penalty against Australia) and featured in every game, he was overshadowed by the performances of Fabio Cannavaro, Gigi Buffon and Pirlo, who got all the headlines.

The second factor has more to do with his look and playing style. Because Totti is that rare combination -- a "skill" player built like a bruiser -- he tends to get fouled more often than others and, often, goes down. This does not endear him to the press in certain parts of the world, particularly the English-speaking media, which is dominated by British pundits.

And, simply put, a number of them seem to be suspicious of a certain type of Latin player: long hair, headband, argumentative, theatrical, etc. In that sense, Totti is a turn-off. Whether this is fair or not is hardly the issue. The point is that superstardom necessarily involves the ability to sell yourself to the critics and that is something Totti, for whatever reason, has not done.

All this could change this season. If he can lead Roma past Manchester United and into the semifinals of the Champions League, he will earn the kudos which have so far escaped him internationally.

And it will be that much sweeter, because he will have built his reputation without having needed to make the jump to one of the game's aristocrats.