2006 World Cup winner Luca Toni signed off on his illustrious career with an audacious Panenka penalty against Juventus this weekend, leading Verona to a shock 2-1 victory over Juventus.
Luca Toni gets a penalty in his last ever game. Gives it the Panenka: https://t.co/ac2sDwL50L
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) May 9, 2016
The 38-year-old Toni’s career has included appearances for Fiorentina, Bayern Munich, Roma and Juventus, but he’s perhaps best known for his contributions to the Italian national team, including being named to the 2006 World Cup Team of the Tournament. His two goals at that World Cup helped Italy to their fourth World Cup title.
The 2014/15 Serie A top scorer, age finally seemed to have caught up with Toni this season. Last year, he scored 22 goals for Verona, but he’s only managed six goals this campaign.
Playing in the final game of his professional career, Toni announced his retirement on May 4 after declaring, “this has been the worst year of my career for various reasons — it’s been a huge disappointment.”
Toni will not appear in Verona’s final game at Palermo, the Italian preferred to end his career against Juve, a club he played for in 2010/11. Toni won a Serie B title with Palermo in 2004, as well as the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal with Bayern Munich in 2008.
Luca Toni and his trademark hand thing. Photo: @FutbolNetwork
He won 47 international caps with Italy and scored 16 goals for the Azzurri. Toni consistently showed his class over a 20-year professional career, providing us with moments of genius and a goal-scoring hand gesture that's been regularly repeated on parks and pitches across the planet. Arrivederci, Big Bird.
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