FRANCESCO TOTTI BIOGRAPHY

Francesco Totti, 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 and also Roma's greatest player ever.

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. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He is currently the top active Serie A goalscorer and sixth all-time in league history with 197 goals.

Totti was born and raised in Rome's Porta Metronia neighborhood. 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, and he joined the Roma youth squad in 1989.

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, 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.

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.

Francesco Totti's Family