Football Player's Biography 7: Francesco Totti

Full name	Francesco Totti
Date of birth	27 September 1976 (1976-09-27) (age 34)
Place of birth	Rome, Italy
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Second Striker Attacking midfielder

Francesco Totti, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI,^[1]^[2] (born 27 September 1976 in Rome) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who is the current captain of Serie A club Roma. His position is that of a second striker or an attacking midfielder, though he is best known for playing as a second striker. Totti has spent his entire career at Roma, is the number-one goalscorer and the most capped player in the club's history. He is widely regarded as one of the finest players in his generation^[3] and also Roma's greatest player ever.^[4]
Often referred to as Il Bimbo d'Oro (The Golden Boy), Er Pupone (The Baby) and Il Gladiatore (The Gladiator) by the Italian sports media, Totti has won many individual awards, including a record five Italian Footballer of the Year awards and two Serie A Footballer of the Year awards.^[5] He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.^[6] He is currently the top active Serie A goalscorer and sixth all-time in league history with 197 goals

Early career

Totti was born and raised in Rome's Porta Metronia neighbourhood. He idolized ex-Roma captain Giuseppe Giannini and regularly played football with older boys. His mother refused a lucrative offer from AC Milan to remain in his hometown,^[8] and he joined the Roma youth squad in 1989.

Club career

Early seasons

After three years on the youth team, Totti made his first appearance for Roma's senior side at the age of sixteen, when coach Vujadin Boškov let him play in the 2–0 away victory against Brescia on 28 March 1993. In the following seasons, he began to play more games and scored his first goal on 24 September 1994 in a 1–1 draw against Foggia. By 1995, Totti had become a regular in the starting eleven and scored 16 goals in the next three seasons. When he assumed the team captaincy in 1997, he began to gain recognition as a club symbol. Manager Zdeněk Zeman played with an offensive 4–3–3 formation, in which Totti was the left winger. Totti scored 30 goals during Zeman's two-year managerial stint.
Though Totti was not called up for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he was named the Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in the 1998–99 season.

Scudetto 2001

By the 2000–01 campaign, Roma, then helmed by Fabio Capello, was building a competitive team around Totti, who had started to play as trequartista to take advantage of his passing skills. He scored thirteen goals in the campaign. On 17 June 2001, he won Scudetto, and scored one goal in a 3–0 Supercoppa Italiana victory against Fiorentina.
Totti was named the Italian Footballer of the Year for 2000 and 2001. He received his first Ballon d'Or nomination in 2000, finishing fourteenth in the voting and fifth the following year.^[9] He had also become a widely recognized idol of the supporters, who were able to identify with Totti's background as a lifelong Roma supporter and Rome native and also his prowess on the pitch.
In the following seasons, Totti played as second striker as part of a 3–5–2 formation and scored a career-high twenty goals in the 2003–04 season as Roma finished runners-up to Milan in the Scudetto race. He also won his second consecutive Italian Footballer of the Year award. Despite a disappointing 2004–05 season that saw Capello leave for Juventus and Roma slip to eighth place while making four coaching changes during the course of the season, Totti maintained his consistent offensive output by scoring fifteen goals, among them his 100th Serie A goal against Internazionale on October 3, 2004. Two months later, on December 19, he became Roma's all-time leading scorer after netting his 107th career goal against Parma, breaking the record previously held by Roberto Pruzzo.

As a striker with Spalletti

Roma's new coach for the 2005–06 season, Luciano Spalletti, went with a 4–2–3–1 formation. In this formation, Totti would not remain forward waiting for crosses or passes but instead go back to take the ball, thus creating space for the attacking midfielders. In this new position, Totti began to score more frequently than the past and scored 15 goals in 24 matches. At one point during this streak, the team won 11 consecutive games.
On 19 February 2006, Totti suffered a fracture of his left fibula and ligament damage during a match against Empoli after being fouled by Richard Vanigli.^[10] Totti risked missing the 2006 World Cup, but returned to the side on 11 May as a substitute in Roma's 3–1 Coppa Italia Final defeat to Internazionale. A metal plate had been attached to his ankle during surgery, but doctors decided not to operate again and remove it following Totti's return, after concurring that it would not affect his gameplay.^[11]
The 2006–07 season was a personal high for Totti, as he finished as Serie A's top scorer with 26 goals as Roma finished runners-up to Inter but exacted revenge on the Nerazzurri as they took home the 2007 Coppa Italia. Totti also was the recipient of the ESM European Golden Shoe award as the top European goalscorer. Despite being the highest active goalscorer in Serie A, he was not among the finalists for the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year^[12] due to his national team absence, though he was nominated for the 2007 Ballon d'Or, finishing tenth in the voting.
Totti scored his 200th goal with Roma in a 4–0 Coppa Italia win over Torino on 16 January 2008. He was named the Italian Footballer of the Year for the fifth time in his career on January 28. He suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee during a 1–1 draw with Livorno on 19 April. Tests revealed a tear of his ACL that required surgery, making him miss four months.^[13] Roma won their ninth Coppa Italia with a 2–1 victory over Internazionale on May 24. Though Totti did not play, he was still allowed to lift the cup as the team's captain. With this win, Totti became the most successful captain in team history. Overall, Totti has won five titles and ten runners-up medals.

Ranieri era

Roma's difficult start to the 2008–09 season and continued struggles at the start of the 2009–10 season saw Spalletti resign after his four year reign and be replaced by Claudio Ranieri. Totti performed well in the inaugural UEFA Europa League. He has since scored three hat-tricks, first in a 7–1 away win against Gent in the third qualifying round and then another with the same score against Košice at the Olimpico in the play-off round. He also scored 3 goals against Bari in Serie A upon his return from a month-long injury.
On 30 November 2009, Totti confirmed he had signed a new five-year playing contract which will see him with the club until 2014, after which he will become a club director for a further five years.^[14] The deal was made official by the Board of Directors on 16 December 2009.^[15] Roma offered a gross annual salary of €8.9M for 2009–10 and €8.6M in the next 4 seasons.^[16]
With a 24-match unbeaten run in Serie A, Roma became the only challengers to Inter in the last three rounds for the league title, ultimately finishing runners-up after the final fixture. Despite Totti's several injury problems, he surpassed legends such as Gabriel Batistuta, Giuseppe Signori, and Kurt Hamrin in the all-time league scoring records. Totti also played in the Coppa Italia Final against Inter on 5 May 2010 but received a red card in the closing minutes of the second half for kicking Mario Balotelli. Roma lost 0–1, failing to bring home their 10th Coppa Italia.

International career

Totti first came into international prominence while playing in UEFA youth tournaments and won the UEFA under-21 championships in 1996. After starring with the Azzurrini in Italy's Under-19 and Under-21 sides, he earned his first cap for Italy during a Euro 2000 qualifying victory against Switzerland on 10 October 1998.

Euro 2000

Italy went to Euro 2000 with Totti in excellent form. He scored 2 goals during the tournament. The first goal came against co-host nation Belgium in the first round, the second against Romania in the quarter-finals. Though Italy lost to France in the final, Totti was named the man of the match^[17] and was selected for the 22-man Team of the Tournament.

2002 World Cup

Disappointment followed at the 2002 World Cup, with Totti failing to make a significant impact and then being sent off during Italy's second-round loss to South Korea after being handed a controversial second yellow card by Byron Moreno for an alleged dive in the penalty area.

Euro 2004

Totti acquired a measure of infamy at Euro 2004 after he spat at Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen in a goalless draw on 14 June 2004. He was subsequently banned until the semifinals, but never made it back to action and finished the competition scoreless due to Italy's elimination in the first round.

2006 World Cup

Totti recovered in time to join the national team for their victorious 2006 World Cup campaign despite not having had much match practice during his three months on the sidelines recovering from injury. Totti had, in fact, played with metal plates in his ankle that had yet to be removed following surgery. He nonetheless was a fixture in Marcello Lippi's side, starting in all of Italy's seven games. During the tournament he played along with Andrea Pirlo behind lone striker Luca Toni, forming a dangerous attacking-midfield pairing. Totti finished the tournament with the most assists of any player, as well as scoring a single goal via a penalty in Italy's 1-0 round-of-16 win over Australia on 26 June. In recognition of a successful tournament, Totti was selected for the 23-man All-Star Team.^[18]

Retirement

Totti intended to retire from the Azzurri after the end of the World Cup, but reneged on his decision and remained undecided on his future for over a year, not being called up in the meantime. He made his retirement official on 20 July 2007, at the beginning of the 2007–08 Serie A season, in order to focus solely on club play with Roma. Then-Italy coach, Roberto Donadoni attempted to get Totti to change his mind for the remaining Euro 2008 qualifiers but was not successful.^[19]
After the national team reunited with Marcello Lippi, Totti announced that he would play in the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa if he got called up.^[20] However, there was no official statement release from Totti or Lippi about a possible comeback. In the event, Totti was not named in the final squad, and Italy was subsequently eliminated, finishing last in their group, their worst ever group stage result in World Cup history. Diego Maradona and former national teammates Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluigi Buffon said one of the reasons for Italy's early exit is that the Azzurri lack creative players like Totti.^[21]^[22]^[23]

Goal celebrations

Totti is known for celebrating his goals in exuberant manner. His most famous celebration took place on 11 April 1999 in the second Derby della Capitale of the 1998–99 season, in which he scored during the final minutes of the game and celebrated by flashing a T-shirt under his jersey, which read "Vi ho purgato ancora" ("I've purged you guys again"), in reference to events at the previous derby against Lazio on 29 November 1998 when Totti helped Roma come back from 3-1 down with an assist to Marco Delvecchio for 3-2 and finally a goal of his own for 3-3. Another derby goal against Lazio saw him take over a sideline camera and aim it at the Roma fans.
As a tribute to his then-pregnant wife, Ilary Blasi, Totti imitated a childbirth scene by stuffing the ball under his shirt and laying on his back while his teammates extracted the ball. His current ritual of sucking his thumb after a goal began after his son was born and subsequently after the birth of his daughter. Blasi has revealed that Totti actually sucks his thumb solely dedicating his celebration to her.^[24]

Personal life

Totti's wife Ilary Blasi is a former showgirl who currently works as commentator and host on several Mediaset TV programs. The couple had their first baby, named Cristian, on 6 November 2005. Their second child, a daughter named Chanel, was born on 13 May 2007.
Totti's brother Riccardo serves as his agent. Totti also runs a football school called "Number Ten" and owns a motorcycle racing team called "Totti Top Sport."
Totti became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF in 2003,^[25]^[26] and the FIFA/SOS Children's Villages in January 2006. As a fundraiser for a children's charity, he published two bestselling, self-effacing joke books containing jokes the locals often told about him and his teammates. Some of the jokes were filmed in short sketches featuring himself with good friends and national teammates Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, Christian Vieri, Antonio Cassano, Marco Delvecchio and Alessandro Nesta and former national team coach Giovanni Trapattoni in a short show called La sai l'ultima di Totti.
Totti is famous for his cucchiaio goalscoring technique, which inspired the title of his 2006 autobiography, Tutto Totti: Mo je faccio er cucchiaio (Romanesco for "I'm going to Chip Him").
Totti also collects jerseys from teams around the world. In 2003, after a Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, Irish players Brian O'Driscoll and Denis Hickie each received a Totti jersey in exchange for their own shirts.
Totti is featured on the cover of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 along with Thierry Henry and Italian referee Pierluigi Collina.^[27]
On February 2010, Totti signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with online gambling company Party Poker. Totti admitted that he is truly passionate about poker, playing online and with his teammates.^[28]