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The past season, without a doubt, became the best for the captain. And if it wasn't for his unsportsmanlike behavior during Euro-2004, he could have been called flawless. "Giallorossi" fans used to say during the season: "If everything is fine with Francesco, we have a team, if he's not in form - Roma is in trouble..."
Puppino from Porta Meronijos
Totti became a footballer as soon as he started walking. When Francesco turned nine months old, he was given a large rubber ball, and, according to his mother Fiorella, the blond baby happily started kicking it between chairs, and in the evening fell asleep hugging his new toy. At the age of five, Totti's father took him to the children's football team in Rome's Porta Meronijos district, called "Fortitudo," which was right near the Totti family's home. Later, the future star moved to "Smit Trastevere," and then he joined "Lodigianni," the third club in Rome's football hierarchy. It is worth noting that from the leading capital football clubs - Roma and - only at the age of 12 did Francesco attract the attention of scouts, while other, less talented children had long since fallen into the hands of "big uncles" making a business out of other talent, notes. They probably weren't sure that the dear child, affectionately known as "Puppino," would be able to show himself in adult sports. When Francesco had to choose which club to play for, he didn't hesitate for a minute - Totti signed a contract with Roma, which he supported from the time he started playing for "Fortitudo."
Illegitimate Son of Papa Carlo
This May, Cesare Prandelli, who took over as manager of Roma club, will become the club's sixth coach under whom Totti will play in Serie A. The first 16-year-old footballer invited to the main "giallorossi" squad, coached by senior strategist Vujadin Boskov. It was he who on March 28, 1993, risked taking out the then very young Totti.
In the following season, Carlo Mazzone took over the red-yellow team, whom Totti later called his "second father." Having made an early debut in Serie A, Francesco thought that now everything was allowed and more than once shocked his team-mates with his actions. Seeing that character difficulties could become the reason for the promising player's career to end, Mazzone decided to personally take care of Totti, and his paternal advice on how to behave in a little-known environment greatly helped the young footballer.
Francesco's third coach was South American Carlos Bianchi. He was a real idea generator, but he did not manage to find a common language with the players, including Totti. Thus, he forced his most talented player to change his number from twentieth, with which he started his Serie A career, to seventeenth, motivating that in his homeland of Argentina, the number 17 brings luck, and demanded that the footballer, who did not like to act within any framework, strictly adhere to the playing discipline.
Bianchi did not work in the Roma club for the entire season, but later Zdenek Zeman, who rose to the position of club coach, became even stricter towards Francesco. First of all, he forced the lover of anchovies and pasta to follow a strict diet and simply tortured him with runs. As a result, Totti lost a good five kilograms. Secondly, he suggested that Puppino, who had played mainly in attack until then, take on the role of a winger. With this task, the latter coped successfully. Fabio Capello, who replaced Zeman, finished "polishing" Francesco, teaching him various tactical tricks and making him an essential player in the team.
Apennine Creole
It is believed that the captain of the Roma club is the most popular Italian footballer, but he gained his unprecedented popularity not only thanks to football. A year ago, Francesco once again caused a sensation in the Apennines by releasing a collection of anecdotes about... himself.
The point is that not impressing interlocutors as a great intellectual, Totti communicates in a unique Roman dialect different from the generally accepted Italian pronunciation. Therefore, answering questions, Francesco sometimes comes up with phrases that cause wild laughter among fans and journalists. What the captain tells at press conferences and talk shows was constantly being dubbed "folk art," and as a result, Totti became a kind of Italian jester from whom everyone laughs, even those who are indifferent to football.
Popular personalities in the Apennines usually react very painfully to all kinds of jokes about themselves due to the national mentality and can consider it an insult. But Francesco, as Italian psychologists note, managed to overcome a kind of "inadequacy of stars" feeling and attracted even the sympathy of those people who neutrally react to football with his original behavior. Just to better understand how all this looks, it is enough to mention one of the printed anecdotes about Totti: "Francesco, which three years were the hardest in your life? - The first grade of primary school."
To Milan after Ilary?
Meanwhile, among the female supporters, admirers, and worshipers of Totti, a prevalent mood of grief has established because everything seems to be heading towards the fact that after Euro-2004, their idol will marry the photomodel Ilary Blasi. This girl from a well-off family in Rome met Totti at a nightclub in March of last year. Just that for Roma's captain, unfortunately, his affection turns out to be a fan of Lazio. However, this circumstance did not become an obstacle in their relationship. By the way, it was precisely the relationship with Totti that helped Ilary, who worked as an assistant to a TV show host, to try herself out in the modeling business.
It must be said that Francesco has always been a favorite of many Italians and constantly won laurels in polls as the "sexiest Italian footballer." Moreover, Totti, who still lives with his parents, romantic intrigues quickly became a topic of public conversation. Until the 2000 European Championship, a luxurious brunette, Maria Mazza, was considered his girlfriend. However, a year after the tournament, Francesco surprised the public by appearing on the beach with... his fiancée. Later, Totti had a series of short-lived romances with famous actresses and models until he met Ilary.
The only inconvenience that does not give peace to the future newlyweds is the geographical distance between them. Francesco is forced to spend most of his time in Rome, while Ilary's modeling agency is in Milan. Is it for this reason that Italian journalists speculate that immediately after the wedding, Totti will leave his native Rome and become the attacking partner of Andriy Shevchenko?
