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At the moment, everything he does just cannot end in failure. When he doesn't send the ball into the gates of the opponents of the Italian national team, he scores goals for his team. The 12th round of the Italian championship did not stand out in any way - the forward shocked the "Milan" club with two goals and helped his team win 3-1.
Even greater importance to these goals is given by knowing the level of skill of the opponents of Florence's club. Although the defense of "Milan" is aging, this season, in terms of goals scored against them, it had only been overtaken by the leading team in the championship, Turin's "Juventus." In addition, Carlo Ancelotti's proteges had won eight consecutive games, a series that was almost equivalent to defending champions "The Old Seniors."
However, "Fiorentina" is not playing any worse this season - two goals by Toni helped the team maintain a 100% winning streak at home and equalize in points with its defeated opponents, sharing the 2-3 positions in the "Serie A" league table. Although the strength of the "Violet Ones" this year lies in excellent organization and team spirit, it's hard to talk about them without mentioning the team's attacking leader.
It's interesting that L. Toni arrived in Florence just last summer, and before moving, neither the same "Milan" nor the other Milan club "Inter" wanted to sign him. However, in three months, the player managed to become a symbol of the team wonderfully trained by Claudio Prandelli. It's easy to understand why, just by looking at the statistics - this season, when the footballer born in Modena scored, his team never lost, he is the top scorer in "Serie A," surpassing his nearest competitor by six goals, and his 15 goals scored are higher than the number of matches played. L. Toni simply became the new Gabriel Batistuta, in other words the "Tonigol," if we were to give him the same nickname as the legendary Argentine from "Fiorentina."
The rise of the 28-year-old L. Toni from an unknown player to a star of the Italian elite league was extraordinary - starting his professional career eleven years ago at his hometown club "Modena," the footballer didn't show anything impressive, he didn't shine even after representing the "Empoli" and "Fiorenzuola" teams season after season, later performing decently for the "Lodigiani" club in the third league, he moved to "Treviso," playing in "Serie B," and there, after scoring 15 goals, attracted the attention of "Serie A" clubs.
In 2000, the forward moved to "Vicenza," then represented the "Brescia" club, but he played successfully only in his first season here - in the second season, he scored only two goals and disappointed the team's fans with his poor head play, so in 2003, "Brescia" passed the tall striker to "Palermo" in a lower league.
In Sicily, L. Toni regained confidence in his abilities, felt the string of goals, and continued to score. His 30 goals in 45 matches helped the "Palermo" club rise to "Serie A" in the first season, and this time, in the highest league, the player showed all his abilities. Standing out 20 times and significantly contributing to winning the ticket to the UEFA Cup, L. Toni was called up to the Italian national team for the first time.
Nevertheless, in the summer, with "Palermo" president Maurizio Zamparini deciding that as long as the footballer did not lose his top form again, he should be sold to earn as much money as possible, for 10 million euros, L. Toni was acquired by the ambitious "Fiorentina" club. The decision to sell the player would soon be regretted by the Sicilian club's president, as in the Florence team, the most famous 30th number of Italy quickly integrated into the team, forming a great trio with midfielders Stefano Fiore and Martin Jorgensen, and now seems to have no noticeable weak points.
He is strong and fast, can strike strongly with both feet, knows how to be in the right place at the right time, and is extremely dangerous in the air when fighting for high crosses. It seems that having successfully overcome previous disappointments in his career and worked hard to improve all aspects of his game, Luca Toni almost has a guaranteed spot in the 2006 World Cup Italian national team squad - this goal could only be hindered by injuries.
"He is not a born striker. Although at the beginning of his career it was not clear how he would succeed in improving, now he has made a breakthrough thanks to his complete dedication," says former Italian national team striker Aldo Serena. - "He is also not selfish, plays for the team, supports the ball, and can play head as well as ever. Moreover, now he is in the best form of his career. Everything he touches turns into gold."
The King Midas of the "Fiorentina" team indeed seems to be getting stronger and can expect that due to his fantastic performance at the end of the season, he may be able to touch not gold, but at least some other colored medals.
