Francesco Totti

Francesco Totti, Italian orders of merit, (born 27 September 1976 in Rome) is an Italy FIFA World Cup-winning Football (soccer), and is widely recognized as one of the most talented players in the past two decades. He plays for A.S. Roma in Italy's Serie A, a league where he also stands as the top active scorer, with over one hundred goals. Between 1998 and 2006 he was a regular member of the Italy national football team, with whom he won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Francesco Totti's position is that of a striker or an attacking midfielder, though he is best known for playing as the trequartista (or second striker), a compromise between the two positions where the player acts as a link between midfield and attack. He is also Roma's first choice to take free kicks and penalties, having scored a number of goals from dead-ball situations.

Totti is widely recognised as the symbol of Roma, One-club man despite the possibility of playing in stronger and richer clubs, and being the AS Roma statistics Top 15 all-time goalscorers and the AS Roma statistics All competitions appearances in the club's history. On 7 June 2007 Totti was declared the winner of the prestigious European Golden Boot, the award given to the top scorer in all the European leagues.

Childhood

Totti was born and raised in Rome, in the Porta Metronia city neighborhood. His parents are Enzo and Fiorella Totti. Unlike other children his age who preferred to watch cartoons, Totti was always more interested in watching football matches instead. Totti constantly played football with older boys. His mother refused a big deal for her son from A.C. Milan while waiting for a deal from his favourite club A.S. Roma. His mother intended to never let her son set foot out of the "Eternal City". Totti finally joined the A.S. Roma junior team in 1989.

AS Roma

Francesco Totti was just 16 when he made his first appearance for AS Roma in a 2-0 away victory at Brescia Calcio on 28 March 1993. He scored four goals in twenty one outings in Serie A 1994-95 and over the ensuing seasons became a team regular. He was named Oscar del Calcio Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2000 and in 2003. The following season (Serie A 2000-01) he helped AS Roma secure their first league title since Serie A 1982-83, having scored thirteen Serie A goals. In the Serie A 2001-02 Roma finished runners-up to Juventus, but Totti returned with a then personal-best of fourteen goals during the Serie A 2002-03.

- Serie A 2003-04: Playing in a more advanced role, Totti hit a career-high twenty goals as Roma finished second in Serie A behind A.C. Milan.
- Serie A 2004-05: A very disappointing season, the only bright side of which was Roma finishing second in the Italian Cup and thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In the 2004-05 season Roma had to replace four coaches. Despite all the problems, Totti scored twelve goals, and helped Vincenzo Montella score 21 with numerous assists. On 19 December 2004, Totti broke A.S. Roma's goal scoring record when he scored against Parma F.C.. It was Totti's 107th goal for the club, a record previously held by Roberto Pruzzo.
- Serie A 2005-06: A strange season for Roma and Totti. On 19 February the 2006, while playing in the Italian Championship against Empoli F.C], he suffered a fracture of his left fibula, and severed the interconnecting ligaments with the malleolus. He returned from his injury on 11 May 2006 as a substitute in Roma's 3-1 defeat to F.C. Internazionale Milano in the Coppa Italia. As in the 2004-05 season, A.S Roma came in second in the Italian Cup (again trailing to Inter Milan). In the Serie A they finished 5th, and only qualified for the Champions League after the Calciopoli verdicts stripped Juventus and Fiorentina of their Champions League spots. Roma were then awarded 2nd place.
The team won eleven consecutive matches, beating previous record (ten consecutive matches by Juventus 1931-'32, Milan 1950-'51 and Bologna 1963-'64). The last match of the streak was a 2-0 victory against rivals S.S. Lazio, before a home draw thanks to a late goal from Inter ended the run. The record only lasted a matter of months as Inter beat it the following season. Coach Luciano Spalletti turned the team's line up from a defensive one to an attacking one (despite playing without strikers for most of the season, and for the last 8 or so games playing without Totti), and the team moved from fifteenth to fifth by the end of the season, with Totti scoring fifteen goals from midfielder or as a lone striker.

- In the AS Roma 2006-07, A.S. Roma won the Italian Cup beating Inter Milan in the finals. Totti also hit a career high of 26 goals in that season winning the Capocannoniere title (Serie A top scorer) as well as winning the European Sports Magazines European Golden Boot award.
On June 2, 2007, Totti visited Dr. Paolo Mariani, the surgeon who operated on him after he broke his ankle in February of 2006. The doctor examined him and they both decided not to operate on the ankle again to remove the metal plate. Totti was reassured by the doctor that the plate will not cause any problems for next season. There were concerns that the plate could change the positioning of the bone and tendons in the area, but after testing everything was clear.[eamTotti scored in Italy's 4-1 defeat by Spain national football team in the final of the UEFA European Under-18 Championship in July 1995. In the final of the European Under-21 Football Championship competition in 1996, Totti opened the scoring in a 1-1 draw against the Spanish before triumphing on penalties.

Totti made his senior Azzurri debut in the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying victory against Switzerland national football team on 10 October 1998. He played in the finals tournament and scored against Romania national football team and Belgium national football team and played in the final; losing to France national football team. Although he was on the losing side, Totti was named Man of the Match in the final and described by many footballing legends, including Michel Platini (France), as the best player of the tournament.

Disappointment followed at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, with Totti failing to make a significant impact and then being Misconduct (football) as Italy lost to Korea Republic national football team in the second round, when he received a second Misconduct (football) for diving in the penalty area by referee Byron Moreno.

At 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, Totti garnered negative media attention when he spat at Christian Poulsen, a midfielder playing for Denmark national football team. Totti was subsequently banned until the semi-finals, but did not play in the tournament again, as Italy failed to qualify for the next round.

On 20 July 2007, Totti announced his retirement from the national team after he had made it clear that his intention was to retire from the national team after the World Cup. He plans to concentrate solely on playing for AS Roma.. He also stated that he has been often criticized by the press because he is Rome and that players such as Paolo Maldini and Roberto Baggio were not treated as bad as he was, when they decided to retire. About Roman players in the national team he also added that they are not treated in the same way of players from North Italy and that also Daniele De Rossi and Alberto Aquilani may have the same problems.

2006 World Cup

Totti's participation in the 2006 FIFA World Cup was put at risk by the broken ankle he suffered a few months before the tournament. He recovered in time to join the national team, although he was far from his best, and played with metal plates in his ankle that had yet to be removed. During the match with Australia national football team, he scored from the penalty spot in the closing seconds of regulation time to give Italy a 1-0 victory. Italy then went on to face Ukraine national football team, a match in which Totti provided an assist to defender Gianluca Zambrotta. Italy won the match 3-0 and moved on to the semifinals to face Germany national football team. Totti started the game against Germany and played the entire match in which Italy defeated Germany 2-0. He also started in the final against France, but came off after 61 minutes for Daniele De Rossi. Italy went on to win the World Cup. Totti was selected for the 23-man 2006 FIFA World Cup All star team.

Celebration

Francesco Totti uses a variety of celebrations for special occasions. His most famous celebration was in the Rome derby of the Serie A 1998-99 season. Totti scored the third and final goal for Roma in the final minutes of the game, and celebrated by flashing a t-shirt which read, "Vi ho purgato ancora". This translates to, "I've purged you guys again". This was in reference to the fact that he scored a goal against Lazio in the previous derby on November 29th, 1998. Another memorable celebration was when he took his shirt off and had a shirt under that said "6 (sei) Unica!" meaning "you are unique", he flashed this to Ilary Blasi, his wife. His most common celebrations are the one where he runs to the side, kissing his ring finger in honor of his wife and, then pointing upwards with his finger, thanking God. When his son, Christian, was born, he began sucking his thumb as a celebration to dedicate his goals to him.

He had a few celebrations that were unique. One time he put the ball under his shirt and he lay on his back as his teammates pulled the ball out. That of course was a skit of childbirth for his newborn son. Another time after he scored in the derby against Lazio he ran to the camera and started filming the crowd.

Personal life

Totti is married to Ilary Blasi, a former showgirl, who currently works as commentator and host on several RAI TV programs. The couple had their first baby, named Cristian, on 6 November 2005. Their second child, a daughter, Chanel, was born on 13 May 2007.

Totti also runs a football school, named Number Ten, and owns a motorcycle racing team called "Totti Top Sport".

His best friend is his brother, Riccardo. However, Totti always says that his brother was the better player when they were kids, but he was unlucky on his way. Totti had a strong bond with Riccardo so today, Riccardo is Totti's agent.

He also had a bad relationship with his previous coach Fabio Capello. Totti accused Capello of being a traitor for leaving Roma suddenly without a warning, and left the Roman team in a very bad shape which had them almost relegated to the second division in 2004-05 season. This rift started on Capello's last days with Roma: according to Totti, his behaviour to most of the players changed, and he once advised the younger players not to take Totti as their role model player, but to take Brazilian Emerson Ferreira da Rosa as an idol for his hard work. Several months later, Capello, Emerson and Frenchman Jonathan Zebina all left AS Roma for rivals Juventus suddenly.

His close friendship with former teammate Antonio Cassano was ended as well when Cassano created a ton of problems for AS Roma before moving off to join Real Madrid where he was later joined by Capello and Emerson. Currently Totti and Cassano are not on talking terms. In a public bust up with Fabio Capello, Cassano claimed that he was wrong to leave Roma and he hopes that Roma and Totti will forgive him.

Honours

A.S. Roma

- Serie A:
- - Winner: Serie A 2000-01
- - Runner-up: Serie A 2001-02, Serie A 2003-04, Serie A 2005-06, Serie A 2006-07
- Coppa Italia:
- - Winner: Coppa Italia 2006-07
- - Runner-up: Coppa Italia 2002-03, Coppa Italia 2004-05, Coppa Italia 2005-06
- Supercoppa Italiana:
- - Winner: 2001, 2007
- - Runner-up: 2006

National Team

- FIFA World Cup:
- - Winner: 2006 FIFA World Cup
- UEFA European Championship:
- - Runner-up: EURO 2000
- UEFA Under-21 European Championship:
- - Winner: 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

Personal

- FIFA 100 (125 greatest living players, as selected by Pelé)
- 2006 FIFA World Cup 2006 FIFA World Cup All star team
- EURO 2000 2000 UEFA European Football Championship UEFA Team of the Tournament
- Italian Footballer of the Year:
- - 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004
- Serie A Young Footballer of the Year:
- - 1999
- Capocannonieri
- - Serie A 2006-07
- European Golden Boot:
- - 2007

Career statistics

- Correct as of 19 September 2007.

Additional information

A goodwill ambassador for United Nations Children's Fund, Totti published two self-effacing joke books in order to raise money for a children's charity. They were bestsellers for many months. Some of the jokes were filmed into short clips that were acted out by Totti himself, along with some of his national team mates such as Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, Marco Delvecchio, Alessandro Nesta and Antonio Cassano.

Totti's idol player in his childhood was ex-Roma captain Giuseppe Giannini, whom he considers as his elder brother: he always wished to just shake hands with Giannini, and was one of his biggest fans. Several years after, Totti himself had the opportunity to play alongside Giannini on the pitch in the AS Roma kit.

Totti is famous for his chipping technique, called in Italian il cucchiaio (in English, "spoon" or in his Roman dialect (Romanesco), "er cucchiaio"). He has scored many beautiful goals using this technique. His famous early goals using this technique was in a shoot-out against Netherlands national football team in the 2000 European Football Championship semi-final when he scored against Netherlands keeper Edwin van der Sar, he also scored a second famous goal two years later against Lazio in the derby, which ended 5-1 to A.S. Roma, and against Inter a few years later after dribbling Marco Materazzi. Consequently, his autobiography is entitled "Mo' Je Faccio Er Cucchiaio", which is Romanesco (Romanesco) for "I'll Chip Him".

He was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations in March 2004.

Totti also collects sports shirts from teams around the world. In 2003 after a Six Nations rugby game between Italy national rugby union team and Ireland national rugby union team, two Irish players Brian O'Driscoll and Denis Hickie were approached by one of Totti's representitives offering two Totti shirts for each of theirs, the players duly accepted the honourable exchange.

See also

One-club man.