Italy had just been knocked out of the World Cup qualifiers, where the lack of a striker who could score steadily was a fatal injury; neither Chiro Inmobile nor Belotti could provide a steady number of goals. I don't know if fans miss Luca Tony, who led the international arena.
Luca Toni was actually a rather late-bloomer who, when he debuted, he only played in Serie B and Serie C until the first time in Serie A in the 2000-01 season, when he played for Italy's veteran team, L.R. Vicenza; he also scored nine goals in 31 games and made a name for himself in the top flight. He was then recruited by Brescia to study next to the legendary Italian legend Roberto Baggio, which made him great progress and growth.
After two seasons of Brescia's years, Luca Tony was acquired by Serie B Palermo, scoring 30 goals in 45 Serie B games and personally becoming the Serie B Golden Boot scorer, but also leading the team to promotion. After his promotion to Serie A, he also scored 20 goals, and after many years of baptism in the lower league, Luca Tony has gradually become a top scorer with a lot of goals, so he was acquired by "Purple Lily" Fiorentina for 10 million euros.
In his two seasons at Fiorentina, Luca Tony scored 49 goals in 71 appearances and won the Serie A Golden Boot in 2005–06, while also becoming a regular for the Italian national team, accompanying the team to the 2006 World Cup. In the national team, Although Luca Tony is the main player, he does not score particularly many goals. However, his pivot, second pass, and move did create a lot of space for the attackers behind him, allowing Totti, Piero and Alberto Gilardino to harvest the opportunity. At the 2006 World Cup, he scored two key goals in the quarter-finals against Ukraine, leading the way to the final four.
Luca Tony's height of 1.93 meters has left him invincible in aircraft and headgun attacks. But the header is not his most "watchman", but his position and the ability to open the bow left and right are the reasons why he has scored such a huge amount of goals. In 2007, he moved to Bundesliga giants Bayern, scoring 58 goals in 89 games, winning a Bundesliga and a UEFA Cup Golden Boot goalscorer; he also helped the team out of the trough of nearly 20 years and regained the Bundesliga title.
In 2010 (at the age of 33), he returned to Italy, played in Roma, Genoa, Juventus, Fiorentina, and when the fans thought he was about to retire and return to the field, he played at the age of 36 in Verona, scoring 20 goals in 34 Serie A matches in 2013-14, and the next season won the Golden Boot with 22 goals, which is the oldest Golden Boot winner in Serie A history, and at the age of 37, he can still deliver such a terrible goal rate. It's really admirable.
Luca Tony finally chose to retire in 2016, hanging up his boots as he blossomed his last rays. With 344 Serie A games and 157 goals; 47 national team matches, 16 goals; one Bundesliga Golden Boot; two Serie A Golden Boots (and one Serie B), Luca Tony is indeed a legendary goalscorer of a generation. I don't know when Italy will be able to produce such a goal-scoring, such an old and strong center scorer.