Lack of Italian Striking Talent a Concern Ahead of Euro 2016
Luca Toni threw himself into his seat in the dug-out at the Bentegodi. As he leaned back and stretched out, he brought his hands to his face as if to wash it of tears. One of his teammates gamely slapped his thigh as if to say: ‘You did it! The rest of your life starts now.’ But the emotions coursing through Toni’s veins at that moment were as divided as the Montagues and the Capulets once were in this fair Verona.
Opening his heart afterwards, he admitted: “I feel joy and sadness.” Regrets, Toni had a few. He would have liked to have left Hellas in Serie A. Perhaps things would have been different if he hadn’t suffered the knee injury that kept him out from the last days of September to the end of November. Who knows whether Toni would have played on another year if Verona’s owner Maurizio Setti hadn’t appointed Gigi Delneri with whom he has never got on particularly well.
The night itself, however, brought a tear to the eye and not because of Verona’s relegation, which was confirmed weeks ago. From a personal perspective, Toni could not have wished to go out any better. The banners draped over the concrete stands left him in little doubt of the regard Verona fans hold him in. “Luca stay” pleaded one. “Clone him,” demanded another.
The most poignant of all settled on Toni’s place in the club’s history. Preben Elkjær, Verona’s top scorer when they won the Scudetto in 1985, famous for scoring against Juventus even after losing his boot, goes by the title “mayor” in these parts. He has been “in office” ever since. Toni is now to be referred to as “deputy mayor” in Verona.
He left the stage, applauding the 30,000 fans, not with a whimper but one last hurrah. Verona became the first team to beat Juventus in Serie A since October 28. Toni scored a delightful panenka, granting us one last glimpse of his trademark celebration, and was involved in Verona’s second before being substituted in order for Verona’s all-time top scorer in Serie A to receive a standing ovation from the crowd.
Sunday as a whole was a day of goodbyes in Serie A. Gianpaolo Bellini fell to his knees before the Curva in Bergamo as he made his final appearance for Atalanta after 18 years at the club. Manuel Pasqual, the Fiorentina captain, wore a T-Shirt thanking Florence. The curtains were drawn on his time at the Artemio Franchi after 357 games in Viola. But it goes without saying that, of the three, the player Italian football will miss the most is Toni.
At a press conference to announce his retirement last week, Toni touched on what the game will be losing when Francesco Totti eventually joins him and Toto Di Natale in hanging up his boots. “When we go,” he said, “almost a 1000 goals will go with us. It will be a big loss.”
Just how big is apparent if you look at the scoring charts that this time last year Toni led to become, at 38, the oldest Capocannoniere of all-time. Gonzalo Higuain is on 33 goals and on course to break the single-season scoring record. The distance between him and his nearest rival is a Grand Canyon. Carlos Bacca and Paulo Dybala are on 17 a piece. Mauro Icardi, who shared the title with Toni last season, has got 16. They are all South American.
The highest scoring Italian is the as yet uncapped Genoa striker Leonardo Pavoletti on 13. There are other Italians are in double figures. Torino centre-forward Andrea Belotti is finishing the season strongly. Only Higuain has scored more goals than him in 2016. He’s up to 12 and is neck-and-neck with Lorenzo Insigne and Massimo Maccarone. Éder, the Italy international from Brazil, has 13 to his name although 12 of them were in the colours of Sampdoria.
How he must rue joining Inter instead of Leicester in January. It’s been nearly six weeks since Éder last started a game. First choice for Italy towards the end of qualifying for the Euros, Antonio Conte will have to rethink his frontline given Graziano Pellè, his strike partner, is out of favour at Southampton.
To put all this into context, you have to go back to 1999 and the long lank haired Marco Delvecchio (18) to find the last time the highest scoring Italian got fewer than 20 goals. In fact, this is the leanest year since 1988 when Giuseppe Giannini and Pietro Paolo Virdis scored 11 each. At least then Italy could still count on the veteran Alessandro Altobelli and a couple of kids by the name of Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli at the Euros in West Germany.
It’s an alarming state of affairs. Talent is out there. Only Higuain (112) has a better goal per minute ratio than his teammate Manolo Gabbiadini (119) in the last two seasons in Serie A and it’s reasonable to think that if he started week-in, week-out at a club like Fiorentina he would be pushing for 20 goals or more. Simone Zaza, for all his big goals, is maybe a step below and worryingly for Conte and his successor, also a back up for his club.
The real shame is how the next generation after the World Cup in 2006 became a lost one. Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli haven’t fulfilled their potential. Injuries have stopped Giuseppe Rossi making the most of his ability while the star of Ciro Immobile, Serie A’s Capocannoniere two seasons ago, which shone briefly waned after moves to Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla didn't work out.
Last week La Gazzetta dello Sport hailed Toni as the “the last great Italian centre-forward.” One hopes there will be others. In the ‘Luca Stay’ banner at the Bentegodi on Sunday night, the R and E in ‘REsta’ were capitalised to convey the meaning that Toni is a king among footballers. For now, the sadness of his retirement is only matched by the absence of heirs to his throne.
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