Toti s son announced his retirement at the age of 19! Coach: I was able to take up a foothold in Serie B, but my last name was putting too much pressure

The aura of the football world is sometimes too heavy, especially when people expect their father's extraordinary talent to reappear under your feet like a God-given gift. As the son of Italian football legend Francesco Toti, Christian Toti eventually discovered that this prominent surname has changed from "privileged" to an insurmountable obstacle. At the age of 19, he has decided to bid farewell to his professional career.

Christian Totti's last stop is Sardinia's Italian league team Olbia. There, he has limited opportunities to play, but he has received huge media attention. There are constant controversy surrounding him, and some people questioned him for joining the team through relationships, and there are even more mean voices on social media accusing him of being "too fat". In fact, his physique was in the normal range among players in the level league at that time, but the last name "Toti" made everything focus.

"I have nothing to say, but I confirm that I retire. I will not play football anymore." Christian Totti confirmed his decision to The New Sardinia newspaper.

Christian Totti has become a free agent a few months ago and made only six appearances for Olbia before December last year. After a long discussion with his family, he made this difficult choice recently. However, he has not completely left the football circle. He has obtained a position at the "Toti Football School" founded by his father Francesco Toti and run by his uncle Ricardo Toti, and will work with general manager Claudio Di Ulis to discover new football stars.

Christian's coach in Olbia and former Roman goalkeeper Marco Amelia expressed regret for his choice. "I always believed in him," said the Christian final coach. "I chose him because he is a player with outstanding abilities. As a midfielder, he can organize attacks, see the gaps between the defense, create opportunities, and be good at counter-robbery when off-ball. In my opinion, he could have had a very good career, playing in Serie C or Serie B."

So, why choose to hang up the boots? Amelia told The New Sardinia: "Being Toti's son has affected the outside world's assessment of him, and the pressure is too great." An incident in August last year was very representative. Shortly after his debut in the Italian Cup against Ilva Madalena, a clip of Christian's game was shared by some sports pages, which immediately attracted the siege of the Internet's "keyboard man". Many of the comments used rude words, making unreasonable mockery of his body that was not in his best condition, setting off a wave of cyberbullying. After the storm, in September last year, his father Francesco Toti brought his partner Noemi Boggy to the stands of Olbia's "Nespoli" stadium to give his son a spiritual support, but this obviously failed to turn the situation around.

Christian's football path can only start with the Roman club that his father regarded as the legend, or to be precise, the U17 echelon. After moving to U18 the following year, he only got two chances in 33 games, with a total of only 15 minutes. In order to gain more time on the game, he switched to the Frosinone youth team, and played four times under the then coach Amelia and scored one goal, but this was far from enough.

2024 is full of twists and turns for him. In January, he signed with the Spanish Vallecano youth team, but left no marks, making headlines of gossip news just because of a street dispute with his mother Ilari Brasi in Madrid. In July, he signed with Yiding's team Avezano, but changed his mind in August and finally chose to join Olbia, who also competed in Yiding. Six months later, he made the decision to retire permanently.