[b]Retirement[/b]
Totti intended to retire from the [i]Azzurri[/i] after the end of
the World Cup, but reneged on his decision and remained undecided on
his future for over a year, and was never called up in the meantime. He
made his retirement official on 20 July 2007, at the beginning of the
new Serie A season in order to focus solely on club play with Roma.
Italy coach [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Donadoni]Roberto Donadoni[/url]'s attempts to get Totti to change his mind for the remaining [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2008]Euro 2008[/url] qualifiers proved futile.[sup][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Totti#cite_note-10][/url][/sup][b]Goal celebrations[/b]
Totti is known for celebrating his goals as well as scoring them. His most famous celebration was in the second [i][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby_della_Capitale]Derby della Capitale[/url][/i] of the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serie_A_1998-99]1998-99[/url]
season, in which he scored during the final minutes of the game and
celebrated by flashing a T-shirt under his jersey, which read [i]"Vi ho purgato ancora"[/i] ("I've purged you guys again"), in reference to his scoring against [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.S._Lazio]Lazio[/url]
in the previous derby on 29 November 1998. 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, [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilary_Blasi]Ilary Blasi[/url],
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 in honor of her, as she
has a habit of sucking on her thumb.[sup][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Totti#cite_note-11][/url][/sup][b]Personal life[/b]
Totti's wife, Ilary Blasi, is a former [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showgirl]showgirl[/url] who currently works as commentator and host on several [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediaset]Mediaset[/url]
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. His brother Riccardo serves as his agent. Totti also runs
a football school, [i]"Number Ten,[/i]" and owns a motorcycle racing team called [i]"Totti Top Sport."[/i]
Totti became an ambassador for [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNICEF]UNICEF[/url]
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 [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Del_Piero]Alessandro Del Piero[/url], [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianluigi_Buffon]Gianluigi Buffon[/url], [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Vieri]Christian Vieri[/url], [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Cassano]Antonio Cassano[/url], [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Delvecchio]Marco Delvecchio[/url] and [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Nesta]Alessandro Nesta[/url] in a short show called [i]La sai l'ultima di Totti[/i].
Totti is famous for his [i]cucchiaio[/i] goalscoring technique, which inspired the title of his 2006 autobiography, [i]Tutto Totti: Mo je faccio er cucchiaio[/i] ([url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesco]Romanesco[/url] for "I'll Chip Him").
Totti also collects jerseys from teams around the world. In 2003, after a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Nations_Championship]Six Nations[/url] rugby match between [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy_national_rugby_union_team]Italy[/url] and [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland_national_rugby_union_team]Ireland[/url], Irish players [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_O%27Driscoll]Brian O'Driscoll[/url] and [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Hickie]Denis Hickie[/url] each received a Totti jersey in exchange for their own shirts.
Totti is featured on the cover of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Evolution_Soccer_4]Pro Evolution Soccer 4[/url] along with [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thierry_Henry]Thierry Henry[/url] and Italian referee [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierluigi_Collina]Pierluigi Collina[/url].written by B.Zakhour
[sup][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Totti#cite_note-12][/url][/sup]
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