Roma captain Francesco Totti has heaped praise on teammate Daniele de Rossi over his performance for Italy against Paraguay.

De Rossi's strike against the South Americans rescued a point for Italy in their World Cup opener.

The two have always been good friends and Totti is proud a Romanista is doing so well for Italy now.

"Great Daniele, he really deserves the congratulations from all of us," wrote Totti in his latest blog.

"He played a great game against Paraguay and was excellent. His goal was crucial for Italy.

"Now he has scored nine goals for the Azzurri and I am sure he will do even better in the future.

"The only thing that saddened me from last night is the injury to Buffon. Gigi is fantastic and I really hope he will recover soon: our nation needs him!"