Luca Toni

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Luca Toni
Personal information
Full name Luca Toni Varchetta
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Bayern Munich
Number 9
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of November 21 2007

Luca Toni Varchetta, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI,[1] (born May 26, 1977 in Pavullo nel Frignano, Modena) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer, who plays for FC Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga. Something of a late bloomer, Toni played for almost ten clubs before finally settling.

Club career

Early career

Toni started his professional career at Modena. This was followed by a number of seasons spent around Serie B and Serie C1 with teams such as Empoli, Fiorenzuola and Lodigiani. After a Serie B season with Treviso in 1999, he moved to Vicenza Calcio, playing in Serie A for the first time. He then moved to Brescia Calcio, playing for two seasons alongside Roberto Baggio.

Palermo

In 2003 he agreed to join ambitious Serie B club Palermo, being one of the main factors behind the winning team campaign that brought the rosanero back to Serie A after over 30 years, thanks to a record 30 goals scored during the season. He consequently gained his first cap for the Italian national team in a friendly match August 18, 2004 lost 2-0 to Iceland in Reykjavík which also marked Marcello Lippi's debut at the helm of the azzurri.[2]

In the following season, Toni confirmed his prolificity by scoring an impressive 20 goals in Palermo's first Serie A campaign, leading the Sicilian club to a historical first qualification to the UEFA Cup.

Fiorentina

In July 2005, Luca Toni was transferred by Palermo owner, Maurizio Zamparini, to Fiorentina for €10 m in a very controversial move which also caused a massive breakup between the player and the team supporters.

He helped Fiorentina qualify for the UEFA Champions League when his team ended the 2005-06 season with a fourth place finish, although this was later revoked (with a massive 15-point deduction assigned for 2006-07) due to Fiorentina's involvement in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.

On May 27, 2006, Toni scored his 31st goal of the season and in doing so, secured the 2005-06 Capocannonieri. Toni also became the first player to score 30 goals or more in Serie A since the 1958-59 season, and the first time since 1933-34 an Italian has done such a feat. Despite only finishing third top scorer in European football with 31 goals in Serie A with Fiorentina, behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar of Ajax Amsterdam and Kris Boyd of Rangers and Kilmarnock, Toni collected the European Golden Boot, due to multipliers based on the quality of the league. Toni's goal tally eclipsed the previous club record of 26 in one season in the top flight, held by Fiorentina legends Gabriel Batistuta and Kurt Hamrin.

Toni announced he would stay loyal to Fiorentina and stay at Florence for at least another season despite Fiorentina's Calciopoli penalty. He scored 16 goals for Fiorentina, helping them to secure a UEFA Cup spot. However, his season was short lived after suffering a metatarsal injury.

Bayern Munich

On May 30 2007, FC Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed that Toni had signed a 4 year contract with FC Bayern Munich after agreeing to a deal worth €11 m with Fiorentina. On June 7, Toni was presented at a Bayern Munich press conference along with fellow new signing Franck Ribéry.[3] Toni was given the jersey number 9. Toni scored 4 goals in a 6-0 win against Aris Thessaloniki to help Bayern win their UEFA Cup group. It was his first poker in his professional career.

National team

Toni made his debut for the Italian national team as a substitute on August 18, 2004 in a friendly match against Iceland. He scored his first international goal in a World Cup Qualifying match against Norway on September 4, 2004.

On November 17, Toni made his international start in a friendly match against Finland. On June 11, 2005, he captained the Italian squad for the first time in his career in a friendly match against Ecuador because of the absence of current captain Fabio Cannavaro and other experienced players. On September 7, Toni scored his first international hat-trick in a 4-1 victory against Belarus in a 2006 World Cup qualifying match.

Toni was selected to Italy's 2006 FIFA World Cup squad, and scored two goals in the quarter-finals against Ukraine on June 30, his only goals of the tournament. In the final against France, he hit the crossbar with a powerful header and later netted another fine header although the goal was disallowed as the attempt was ruled offside.

Toni scored two goals in Italy's 2-0 win over Scotland in a EURO 2008 qualifier. Due to the aforementioned foot surgery, he missed Italy's next two qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Lithuania. He returned to the qualification games against Georgia, and assisted Fabio Grosso, who scored the final result (2-0). On the 17 November 2007, Toni struck in the first minute of a 2-1 qualifier win over Scotland at Hampden Park, which secured Italy's place at the final stages. Four days later, he scored the second goal against the Faroe Islands, as Italy closed with a 3-1 win.

Personal life

Toni is engaged to Italian model Marta Cecchetto. The pair met while he was a player in Serie C.

Honours

Club Titles

National Team

Personal

References

  1. ^ "Italy president hails World Cup winners". AscotSportal.com. 2007-01-08. Retrieved 2008-01-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Islanda - Italia: 2 - 0, 18/08/2004". Italia1910.com (in Italian). Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  3. ^ "FCB unveil star signings Ribéry and Toni". fcbayern.de. 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2008-01-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

Preceded by European Golden Boot
2005-06 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Serie A top scorer
2005-06 		Succeeded by



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