Ronaldhinio

best gool »

Francesco Totti

Current club: A.S. Roma
Number: 10
Personal website: www.francescototti.com

Francesco Totti, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (born September 27, 1976 in Rome) is an Italian football player, who currently plays for A.S. Roma in Serie A and for the Italian national 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, having never left the team despite the possibility of playing in stronger and richer clubs, and being the number one goalscorer and the most capped player in the club's history. On June 17th 2007, Totti was declared the winner of the prestigious European Golden Boot, the award given to the top scorer in all the European leagues.

Totti scored in Italy's 4-1 defeat by Spain in the final of the UEFA European Under-18 Championship in July 1995. In the final of the Under-21 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 Euro 2000 qualifying victory against Switzerland on 10 October 1998. He played in the finals tournament and scored against Romania and Belgium and played in the final; losing to France. 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 sent off as Italy lost to South Korea in the second round, when he received a second yellow card for diving in the penalty area by referee Byron Moreno.

At Euro 2004, Totti garnered negative media attention when he spat at Christian Poulsen, a midfielder playing for Denmark. 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.