Luca Toni

Infobox Football biography
playername = Luca Toni
fullname = Luca Toni Varchetta Delle Cave


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1977|5|26
cityofbirth = Pavullo nel Frignano
countryofbirth = Italy
height = height|m=1.96
currentclub = Bayern Munich
clubnumber = 9
position = Striker
youthyears = 1990-1994
youthclubs = Modena
years = 1994–1996
1996–1997
1997–1998
1998–1999
1999–2000
2000–2001
2001–2003
2003–2005
2005–2007
2007–
clubs = Modena
Empoli
Fiorenzuola
Lodigiani
Treviso
Vicenza
Brescia
Palermo
Fiorentina
Bayern Munich
caps(goals) = 32 0(7)
03 0(1)
26 0(2)
31 (15)
35 (15)
31 0(9)
44 (15)
80 (50)
67 (47)
36 (27)
nationalyears = 2004–
nationalteam = Italy
nationalcaps(goals) = 41 (15)
pcupdate = September 29 2008
ntupdate = October 11 2008

Luca Toni Varchetta Delle Cave, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, [cite web | url = http://www.ascotsportal.com/news/newsdtl.aspx?PID=89262e2c-3beb-4080-bd5e-949f498ecbcc&CID=4ca0fc99-f8bf-4260-b379-ee5bca3085eb&NID=e47baa4d-fe98-4feb-a0ff-a007b8e62e87 | title = Italy president hails World Cup winners | work = AscotSportal.com | accessdate = 2008-01-23 | date = 2007-01-08] (born May 26, 1977 in Pavullo nel Frignano, Modena) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer, who plays for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. Something of a late bloomer, Toni has played for ten clubs to date.

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". [cite web | url=http://www.italia1910.com/partita.asp?d=8/18/2004|title=Islanda - Italia: 2 - 0, 18/08/2004 | work =Italia1910.com | language=Italian | accessdate=2007-06-30]

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 million 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, Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed that Toni had signed a four year contract with the club after agreeing to a deal worth €11 million with Fiorentina. On June 7, Toni was presented at a Bayern Munich press conference along with fellow new signing Franck Ribéry. [cite web| url= http://www.fcbayern.t-home.de/en/news/news/2007/12082.php?fcb_sid=98ae92be703fa715524523742fb57cc1 | title = FCB unveil star signings Ribéry and Toni |accessdate = 2008-01-23 | date = 2007-06-07 | publisher = fcbayern.de] Toni was given the jersey number nine.

Toni scored four goals in a December 19 6–0 home win against Aris Thessaloniki to help Bayern win their UEFA Cup group. On February 17, 2008, he scored his first Bundesliga hat-trick (a "perfect hat-trick", with a goal with each foot and a header) against Hannover 96. Bayern won the away fixture 3-0.

In a quarter-final second leg match in the UEFA Cup, Toni scored two dramatic goals on 115th and 120th minutes of extra time, in a game which finished 3-3 and lifted Bayern Munich past Getafe CF on away goals. Eventually Bayern lost to Zenit Saint Petersburg in the semi final. At the UEFA Cup 2007-08 he shared the first place with Pavel Pogrebnyak from Zenit Saint Petersburg at the top scorers list with 10 goals.

He scored two goals in the German Cup final against Borussia Dortmund in a 2-1 win, his second goal was the winner in extra time to give Bayern Munich another cup. Toni finished as top scorer in the 2007–08 Bundesliga season with 24 goals. Overall, Toni finished the season with 39 goals and 12 assists in 46 matches.

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 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 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 November 17, 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.

He was called up to the Italian Squad for Euro 2008. Luca Toni's form in the tournament was disappointing, his only goal against Romania was disallowed for offside. Toni's main contribution for the team was winning a penalty kick against France, which ended 2-0. Italy then bowed out of the tournament on penalty kicks to Spain in the quarter-final.

Despite the Euro 2008 disappointment, Toni has been called up by coach Marcello Lippi for Italy's first two 2010 World Cup qualifers.

Honours

Palermo

*Serie B: 2003-04

Bayern Munich

*Bundesliga: 2007-08

*German Cup: 2008

*German League Cup: 2007

International

*FIFA World Cup: 2006

Personal

*"'2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team

*European Golden Shoe: 2005-06

*Serie A Top Scorer: 2006

*Bundesliga Top Scorer: 2008

*UEFA Cup Top Scorer: 2008

*"'Serie B Top Scorer 2004

References

External links

* [http://www.lucatoni.com Official Website]
*it icon [http://www.figc.it/nazionali/DettaglioConvocato?codiceConvocato=2842&squadra=1 National Team statistics at FIGC official site]
* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=24&b=true&pn=Luca_Toni FootballDatabase.com provides Toni's profile and stats]
*it icon [http://www.realsoccer.it/NotiziaInterna.php?table=MARKETNEWS&recid=11752 Toni al Bayern: "L'ho fatto per Firenze"] , RealSoccer.it, 30 May 2007
*it icon [http://www.realsoccer.it/NotiziaInterna.php?table=HOMENEWS&recid=11191 Bomber italiani.... addio... ] , Realsoccer.it, 18 July 2007

Persondata
NAME= Varchetta, Luca Toni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Toni, Luca
SHORT DESCRIPTION=footballer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1977-5-26
PLACE OF BIRTH= Pavullo nel Frignano, Italy
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=