Francesco Totti

Francesco Totti (born 27 September 1976 in Rome)
is an Italy|Italian soccer|football player, who
currently plays for A.S. Roma|AS Roma in Serie A
and the Italy national football team|Italian
national team.  A creator as well as a scorer of
goals - not least from free kicks - Francesco
Totti can operate from a variety of attacking
positions but it is in the free role behind the
strikers that his skill and technique are best
showcased.

==Childhood==
Totti was born in Rome, in the San Giovanni
section of the city. His parents are Enzo and
Fiorella Totti. Totti played football throughout
his childhood. He first joined the junior team for
AS Roma in 1989.



==National team==

Hugely talented as a teenager, Totti scored in
Italy's 4-1 defeat by Spain national football
team|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 opening
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
national football team|Switzerland on 10 October
1998. He played in the finals tournament and
scored against Romania national football
team|Romania and Belgium national football
team|Belgium and played in the finals, losing to
France. More disappointment followed at the
Football World Cup 2002|2002 World Cup, with Totti
failing to make a significant impact and then
being sent off as Italy lost to the South Korea
national football team|Korean Republic in the
second round.

At Euro 2004, Totti garnered negative media
attention when he spat at Christian Poulsen, a
midfielder for Denmark national football
team|Denmark who had marked him for the whole
match. 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.

==Club==
Totti was just 16 when he made his first
appearance for AS Roma in a 2-0 away victory at
Brescia Calcio on March 28, 1993. He scored four
goals in 21 outings in 1994/95 and over the
ensuing seasons became a team regular. He was
named Italy's Player of the Year in 2000. The
following season (2000/1) he helped AS Roma secure
their first league title since 1983, having scored
13 Serie A goals. Unhappily, in the 2001/02
campaign Roma finished runners-up to Juventus, but
Totti returned with a personal-best of 14 goals
during the 2002/3 season.

2003/04: Playing in a more advanced role, Totti
hit a career-high 20 goals as Roma finished second
in Serie A.

2004/2005 : A very disappointing season, with Roma
almost being relegated.