There are 19 years between goalkeeper and striker. ‘Keeper Simone Scuffet dives the wrong way as the striker calmly slots his penalty away. In the penultimate match of the Serie A season Luca Toni has just scored his 20th goal of the campaign.
He runs off towards the corner flag to produce his trademark celebration. Toni is full of joy and happiness. No wonder, it has been a sensational season.
The 36-year-old was deemed past it, not good enough anymore. Since leaving Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga in 2010 Toni has struggled for form and drifted between clubs.
Initially loaned to Roma, Toni then left Bayern on a free for Genoa. After half of the season he moved on to Juventus. The 2011-12 was a horror season as he didn’t feature for the Bianconeri and ultimately had enough. He left Italy all together for Dubai club Al-Nasr in the United Arab Emirates come January 2012.
One could have thought retirement was imminent.
But Toni was soon back in Serie A at the club where he had once flourished, Fiorentina. The Tuscany side had bought Toni for €10 million from Palermo back in 2005, after he had scored 21 goals for the newly promoted Serie A side as the Sicilians finished in 6th position.
What a phenomenal signing it turned out to be. Toni scored 31 goals becoming ‘capocannoniere’ as well as claiming the European Golden Boot, he was 29-years-old. Unfortunately for him, Fiorentina were part of the unsavoury Calciopoli scandal and only finished 9th following a hefty 30 point deduction.
Despite the domestic game being in disarray, the 2006 summer saw Toni be part of the Italy World Cup winning squad. He started six of their seven matches and scored two goals, both in the 3-0 victory over Ukraine in the quarter-final.
At the height of his form he went onto pastures new in Germany in 2007. He was a big success as he secured Bundesliga top scorer with 24 goals. In total he scored 39 goals in all competitions in his first season with the Bavarian giants. One of his most incredible matches during the season was his two goals against Getafe in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. Both goals came in the last five minutes of extra time to help Bayern progress on away goals after finishing 3-3. Despite his heroics Bayern lost to eventual winners Zenit St. Petersburg in the semi-final.
Afterwards, injury and loss of form deprived him of regular football and consequently the goals dried up.
Yet here he was in Florence once again. In the 2012-13 campaign Toni scored eight goals as Fiorentina finished fourth and secured Europa League football as their recovery in Italian football continued.
What better place for a renaissance?
Vincenzo Montella deemed Toni surplus to requirements however, with Mario Gomez Italy bound, the same striker that effectively took Toni’s place at Bayern. So the lanky forward was a free agent once more.
Andrea Mandorlini snatched him up though for newly promoted side Hellas Verona. Always considered a late bloomer, Toni rekindled his form and looked like the player he once was.
Toni made 34 appearances in Serie A this season, being subbed off on just four occasions. His 20 goals were bettered only by Ciro Immobile while he also notched with 11 assists. This campaign has seen his best goals return since those revered Bayern days.
Alongside loan signings Juan Iturbe from Porto and Rômulo from Fiorentina, Toni helped Verona finish in 10th place and were in with a chance of European football on the final day. Verona ended the season as the sixth top scorers in Serie A with 62 goals.
After 11 seasons out of Serie A, Verona endured one of their darkest eras, yet still had incredible fan support. That same support has made for a ferocious atmosphere at the intimidating Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi where Toni has scored 13 of his 20 Serie A goals.
They’ve been well treated as Toni showed his poaching prowess within the penalty area as well as deadly finishing from the penalty spot. Opposition defences have been wary once more of his powerful strength as he rampages within the penalty area. With such a tall frame Toni is somewhat unorthodox but extremely effective, especially in the air.
With Verona coach Andrea Mandorlini extending his contract for the 2014-15 campaign, both club and Toni will look to reproduce their fantastic form next season.
“I believe in the project, in people, in four years we have come a long way and it would have been a shame not to continue,” Mandorlini said to the official club website.
In a wild Serie A season it was great to see some historic teams competitive once more within the top half of the table, Verona being one of them.
It is somewhat fitting then that their talisman has also seen a return to his former glory days.
Follow Tom Rowland on Twitter @TWRowland
