Luca Toni

Luca Toni
Toni in 2021
Personal information
Full name Luca Toni[1]
Date of birth (1977-05-26) 26 May 1977 (age 47)
Place of birth Pavullo nel Frignano, Italy
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1990–1991 Officine Meccaniche Frignanesi
1991–1994 Modena
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
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)
2009 Bayern Munich II 2 (0)
2010Roma (loan) 15 (5)
2010–2011 Genoa 16 (3)
2011–2012 Juventus 14 (2)
2012 Al Nasr 7 (3)
2012–2013 Fiorentina 27 (8)
2013–2016 Verona 95 (48)
Total 586 (268)
International career
2004–2009 Italy 47 (16)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Italy
FIFA World Cup
Winner 2006 Germany
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Luca Toni Ufficiale OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [ˈluːka ˈtɔːni]; born 26 May 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer, Toni scored over 300 goals throughout his career, and is one of the top-five highest scoring Italians in all competitions; with 322 career goals, he is currently the fourth-highest scoring Italian player of all time, second only to Alessandro Del Piero in the post-World War II era.[3] At international level, he represented the Italy national team on 47 occasions, scoring 16 goals.

He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation, known for effective finishing and his leadership skills in attack. Something of a footballing nomad, at club level, Toni played for thirteen different Italian 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 the 2003–04 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. He retired in 2016, after three seasons with Verona, the last as team captain.

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.

In addition to the team medals he collected, Toni 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 became 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.

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Italy" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Luca Toni". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Gli otto giocatori italiani che hanno segnato 300 gol" (in Italian). Yahoo.it. 16 December 2014. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.