I’m sure you have all heard the sad news that the “Italian Stallion”,
Luca Toni is retiring at the age of 38.
Something of a footballing nomad, at club level, Toni played for sixteen different teams throughout his career. A late bloomer, he spent several seasons in the lower divisions of Italian football, as well as promising spells with minor Serie A clubs, Vicenza and Brescia, before finally making his breakthrough with Palermo: he helped the team to Serie A promotion during the2003–04 season by winning the Serie B title, and was the league's top scorer with 30 goals; the following season, he helped the club qualify for Europe, scoring 20 goals in Serie A. After two prolific seasons with Fiorentina, Toni also spent three seasons with German side Bayern Munich, where he helped the club to a domestic treble during the 2007–08 season, also reaching the UEFA Cup semi-finals; after falling out with the club's manager during his third season with the team, and being demoted to the reserve squad, he later returned to Italy on loan with Roma in 2010, and subsequently had spells with Genoa and Juventus. In 2012, he played for Al-Nasr Dubai SC, in the UAE Arabian Gulf League, but returned to Fiorentina for a season later that year.
At international level, he represented the Italian national team on 47 occasions, scoring 16 goals. He
made his international debut in 2004 and took part at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup with Italy; he most notably
contributed to Italy's 2006 World Cup victory, as he scored twice and was
elected to the tournament's All-star
team.
A prolific goal scorer, Toni scored over 300 goals throughout his
career, and is one of the top-five highest scoring Italians in all competitions. In addition to the team medals he has
collected, he also won several individual honours: during his first spell with
Fiorentina, he won the Capocannoniere (Serie A top scorer) award during the 2005–06 season, in which he scored 31
goals (the most goals in a Serie
A season since 1958–59), which also earned him the European Golden Shoe, becoming the
first Italian player ever to win the award; he was also the league's joint top
scorer in the 2014–15 Serie A season, in which he become the oldest
player to win the award at the age of 38, with 22 goals. Toni also finished as
top scorer in the 2007–08
Bundesliga, with 24 goals, and in the 2007–08
UEFA Cup, with 10 goals.
Toni is engaged to
the Italian model Marta
Cecchetto. Their son was stillborn on 1 June 2012. Their daughter Bianca was born in June
2013. On 30 July 2014, a second son, Leonardo, was born in Florence.
In March 2015, German authorities sued Toni for €1.7 million in unpaid
taxes to the Catholic Church. That July, he sued his former tax adviser for the
same amount, claiming that he had been registered without prior knowledge as a
Roman Catholic in Germany and thus had paid taxes to the Church in conflict
with his own beliefs. In December, he received a payout of €1.25 million when
the court found in his favour.
Honours
·
Serie B Top Scorer: 2003–04
·
Pallone d'Argento:
2005–06
·
Guerin d'Oro: 2006
·
European Golden Shoe:
2005–06
·
FIFA FIFPro World XI Nominee:
2006, 2007, 2008
Appearances and goals
Years
|
Club
|
Apps
|
Goals
|
1994–1996
|
Modena
|
32
|
7
|
1996–1997
|
Empoli
|
3
|
1
|
1997–1998
|
Fiorenzuola
|
26
|
2
|
1998–1999
|
Lodigiani
|
31
|
15
|
1999–2000
|
Treviso
|
35
|
15
|
2000–2001
|
Vicenza
|
31
|
9
|
2001–2003
|
Brescia
|
44
|
15
|
2003–2005
|
Palermo
|
80
|
50
|
2005–2007
|
Fiorentina
|
67
|
47
|
2007–2010
|
Bayern
Munich
|
60
|
38
|
2010
|
Roma (loan)
|
15
|
5
|
2010–2011
|
Genoa
|
16
|
3
|
2011–2012
|
Juventus
|
14
|
2
|
2012
|
Al
Nasr
|
8
|
3
|
2012–2013
|
Fiorentina
|
27
|
8
|
2013–2016
|
Verona
|
95
|
48
|
Total
|
586
|
268
|
|
National team
|
|||
2004–2009
|
Italy
|
47
|
-16
|
Ciao Big man!!!!
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