9 – Luca Toni
Luca Toni enjoyed a sensational run in the 2006 qualifiers, scoring pretty much every time he was given a chance and wrestling the starter’s shirt from such players as Christian Vieri, Alberto Gilardino and Filippo Inzaghi. Despite these exciting premises, he did not deliver at the actual World Cup, with only two goals in seven games, both against a mediocre Ukrainian side.
That said, Toni was still an important component in Marcello Lippi’s Azzurri, literally giving weight to the Italian offence and always drawing a couple of defenders to him. It is a testament to his good work that he almost scored twice in the final against France – once he was denied by the crossbar, on the other occasion his goal was disallowed for a (highly dubious) offside.
Had fortune been a little more generous that night, Toni might have climbed higher on this list. Instead, for all of his hulk and impetus, he only scrapes into the bottom places – which should still be regarded as an admirable achievement, for someone who played in the 2006 and 2008 tournaments, and scored only those two goals.
