Udinese captain Antonio Di Natale says he will be taking his inspiration from Roma's Francesco Totti when he celebrates his 37th birthday on Monday.
Totti, who turned 38 last month, has a contract with the Giallorossi which will take him through to the age of 40, and he has shown in recent weeks that he is still at the top of his game, most notably by becoming the oldest player to score in the Champions League.
The chances are the Roma captain will add another year to his current deal to enable him to play in the club's new stadium -- should construction work progress as planned -- and his unending passion for the game is helping Di Natale to extend and enjoy the final stages of his own career.
"The example to follow is that of Totti," he told Adnkronos. "He's 38, but he says he feels like he's 27. I've had a great career and I hope it ends well too. I want to enjoy myself, achieve great things with Udinese and then we'll see."
Di Natale has scored 197 goals in Serie A -- 39 fewer than Totti, who netted his first goals in Italy's top flight in 1994.
The Udinese forward did not start playing in the top flight until 2002, when he scored 13 goals with Empoli. He has been with Udinese since 2004 and scored a total of 213 times for the Friuli side in all competitions.
Both are impressive records, but Gianluigi Buffon believes Totti tainted his reputation in the aftermath of Juventus' 3-2 win over Roma earlier this month.
Totti insinuated that Juve continue to receive favours, saying that no matter how well Roma play, they are destined to finish second behind the Bianconeri.
"I don't like raising controversies after the 90th minute," Buffon told RAI television. "It's not in my character to do that and I'm not only saying that because I'm often on the winning side. I've won a lot in my career, but I've also lost a lot.
"I've finished third, fourth and then seventh for two years in a row, but I don't think you ever saw Buffon giving interviews in which he remonstrated against somebody or maybe raised the latest round of inferences that don't do any good to anybody or to the game."
The 36-year-old continues to be Italy's first-choice goalkeeper, while Totti's last game for the national team came in the 2006 World Cup final. Di Natale, meanwhile, last appeared in an Azzurri shirt in the final of Euro 2012, and he does not expect to add to his 43 caps.
"There are plenty of talented young players coming through and the coach [Antonio Conte] is demonstrating how great a coach he is with them," added Di Natale.