AT THE AGE OF 38, THE HELLAS VERONA HITMAN BECAME THE JOINT-CAPOCANNONIERI IN SERIE A. OUTSCORING YOUNGER ITALIAN STRIKERS AND THE LEAGUE’S TOP FOREIGN IMPORTS. THUS, IT BEGS THE QUESTION, SHOULD LUCA TONI HAVE BEEN IN THE ITALIAN NATIONAL TEAM?
By: Peter Nicolaides
The career of Luca Toni may resemble that of a fictional character from something similar to Roy Of The Rovers. A career filled with ups and downs, filled with success and disappointment. A model-example for many players who ply their trade in the lower-leagues of any footballing nation that there is a path to the very top.
The story of Luca Toni features early beginnings in Serie B and Serie C; winning a World Cup in 2006; winning a domestic treble with Bayern Munich in 2008; being the scapegoat for Italy’s disappointing Euro 2008 campaign; disappointing spells at Roma, Genoa and Juventus; a stint in the Middle East; a resurrection at Fiorentina and a two-season spell at Hellas Verona that has left as many people speechless as it has left others running out of adjectives to describe the amazing story of a 38-year-old striker who became oldest ever Serie A’s Capocannoniere.
The question is simple. Should Luca Toni have been in the national team for the games against Croatia and Portugal?
Toni even had several supporters last year for the idea of the former-World Cup winner being included in Cesare Prandelli’s squad for the 2014 World Cup. Perhaps the heat, conditions and short recovery-time between games in international tournaments didn’t suit footballers in their mid-thirties, but Italy’s disappointing campaign may have proven that the young guns weren’t any better.
Since the World Cup, most Italian strikers and forward-options had poor 2014-15 seasons. Ciro Immobile, Fabio Borini and Mario Balotelli became nothing more than occasional substitutes at their respective clubs. Giuseppe Rossi, Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Insigne had seasons filled with injuries (Rossi did not play a single game for Fiorentina). Alessio Cerci’s big move to Atletico Madrid was a disaster, with a loan spell at Milan being less than convincing. Seba Giovinco and Dani Osvaldo ended the season playing for clubs outside of Europe whilst Antonio Cassano ended the second-half of the season without a club.
Only Graziano Pelle, Simone Zaza, Dominico Berardi, Antonio Candreva had successful seasons, with Alessandro Matri’s 2014-15 being up for debate. As a result, Italy resorted to the Oriundi by bringing in Eder, Franco Vasquez and Daniel Caligiuri to play for their adopted-nation with the hope that Paulo Dybala, Lucas Vietto and Rodrigo De Paul may do the same in the future.
Yet, the player 42 goals in 72 league games couldn’t get a game for Italy? Italy needed to beat Croatia or Portugal to ensure a top-seeding in the World Cup qualifiers for Russia 2018. They drew against Croatia and lost against Portugal.
Toni’s age may have been a sticking point as would his lack of work-rate regarding defending, but Hellas Verona has proven how to utilize Toni in a way that ends with over twenty goals a season for back-to-back campaigns.
The competition itself may be Antonio Conte’s one and only event in charge of the national team should a major coaching job open up at club level, it would make sense for Conte to pick Italy’s forwards for a squad for two games based on nothing more than current-form than long-term benefit. One can hardly claim that the former-Juventus manager is building for the long-run. Having Toni along with four or five other forwards who were unique and beneficial in their own way and playing style would have led to greater tactical versatility for both games. Luca Toni coming off the bench to close out games or to grab a late goal would not have been worst option in the world, especially in the friendly against Portugal when Italy went a goal down.
If a player is scoring more goals than his countrymen who are younger than him and play for clubs with more skilled attacking players around them; if a player is scoring more goals than the players who’ve adopted Italy as their team to represent at international level; if a player is scoring more goals than the top foreign players in his own domestic league; then surely he warrants a call-up to his own national team on merit alone, not being ruled-out because of his date-of-birth.
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