Italy fans will virulently dispute the idea that Francesco Totti is some way below the level of the greats of this era but most of the rest of the world might not need much convincing. When the Roma forward went off just over an hour into last night's final it was almost certainly the end of his international career and this had been another occasion, indeed a third straight major tournament, at which he has failed to be a dominant force.
Starved of the ball for long periods here and stifled by the work of Claude Makelele, Totti only infrequently lit up the match. He has described himself as 90% likely to end his international days after this World Cup and it will be Italy supporters much more than the wider football community who mourn that.
The shame for Totti at this World Cup is that he arrived short of full fitness after a serious injury and was stifled by that. Opinion of his ability outside Italy is also clouded because of the venerable loyalty he has shown to Roma, his boyhood club. He has picked up only a single Serie A title as a result of turning down other offers and nor has he been able to showcase his talent at the business end of the Champions League. One of the finest players of modern Serie A will therefore depart the international stage amid lingering doubts.
Totti had known his performance in this match would go some way to determining how his international career will be remembered outside his homeland. For all the adulation poured on him in Italy, where he is seen unquestionably as one of the finest players of his generation, far greater scepticism has existed elsewhere about his talent. Signs of his brilliance have been in relatively short supply in major tournaments.
Perhaps Totti's Euro 2000 would be much more fondly recalled had Italy not lost the final to France on a golden goal. He had enjoyed a good competition and impressed in the final, getting man of the match despite finishing on the losing side. But since then his contributions on the biggest international stages have tended to be memorable for the wrong reasons.
At the 2002 World Cup he was sent off against South Korea as Italy went out to the co-hosts in the second round, collecting his second booking for an alleged dive. Two years later his European Championship came to a premature and shameful end when he was banned for spitting at Denmark's Christian Poulsen. Without him Italy went out in the first round.
If he has not been one of the dominant figures in Italy's progress to this final, that should really be no surprise given that he only returned for Roma on May 11 from a serious leg injury sustained three months earlier. So high is Totti's standing in Italy that the country held its breath when he was stretchered off against Empoli 113 days before the start of this tournament with a broken fibula and torn ankle ligaments. Totti made it but was, by his own reckoning, only "60%-70% fit" before the opening match against Ghana. Dropped for the second-round game against Australia - or rested, according to Marcello Lippi - he came off the bench to get the decisive goal from the penalty spot. He made a handful of visionary passes against Germany in the semi-final but they came amidst plenty of unsuccessful ones. But no one had seriously doubted he would be in the starting team here and this was his big chance.
The evening could hardly have started worse for him. Not only were Italy a goal down inside 10 minutes but he was finding it extremely difficult to make an impact. Even after Andrea Pirlo's corner enabled Marco Materazzi to equalise, Totti remained a periperhal figure for most of the first half.
He was playing in what has become his customary position at this World Cup, starting in the centre of a three-man line that operates behind Luca Toni. But despite dropping deep and occasionally moving wide in search of space and possession, he saw little of the ball. The positioning of Claude Makelele in particular and also Patrick Vieira at the base of France's midfield left scarce room in which he could operate.
That was summed up when he picked out Mauro Camoranesi and looked for the return only for Makelele to nick in and take possession. It was rare indeed that Totti produced something out of the ordinary before the interval. One clever touch to Pirlo came to nothing because of stout French defending and a flash of inspiration to send Toni galloping through a packed penalty box also ended with France finding an important block.
In the main there was scarce co-ordination between Totti and Toni, and Totti's attempts to win the ball by closing down opponents almost invariably ended with him being bypassed by swift France passing. Yet Raymond Domenech's players will have been aware it needs only one moment of Totti genius to change a match.
There were signs in the second half that Totti might be finding his range, even if his occasional free-kicks remained poor. A long pass picked out Toni and then, from a quickly taken corner, he whipped over a dangerous cross that Lilian Thuram got to before Fabio Cannavaro could apply a touch. The departure of Vieira must have given Totti increased hope but his touches remained few as France began to push strongly and he was sacrificed by Lippi as the coach sought to bring more defensive stability by introducing Daniele de Rossi and pushed Andrea Pirlo into Totti's role. If, as expected, this was Totti's last game for Italy he departs without convincing the doubters.