14.12.2014 19:05 h

Evergreen Toni delighted to hit 300-goal mark

Ein italienisches Phänomen: Veronas Stürmer Luca Toni (li) erzielt gegen Udinsese am 14.12.2014 das 300. Tor seiner erfolgreichen Karriere.
Ein italienisches Phänomen: Veronas Stürmer Luca Toni (li) erzielt gegen Udinsese am 14.12.2014 das 300. Tor seiner erfolgreichen Karriere.

Evergreen striker Luca Toni admitted his delight after hitting his 300th career goal in a 2-1 win over Udinese that helped the former World Cup winner shade Antonio Di Natale in a 'battle of the veterans' on Sunday.

Toni scored his fifth goal of the campaign when he levelled Di Natale's powerful 31st-minute header just before half-time after muscling his way past the Udinese defence to fire into Orestis Karnezis's top corner.

Lazaros Christodoulopoulos scored the winner for Verona seconds after the restart to end an eight-game winless streak and move Andrea Mandorlini's men up to 13th in Serie A.

But all the post-match plaudits went to 37-year-old Toni, who indicated he may not be quite ready to hang up his boots just yet.

"I'm super-happy, it's been the perfect day," Toni told Sky Sport. "Not only has this goal helped me reach the 300-goal mark, it has also helped us secure the win we've been chasing for a long time."

Wearing a '300-goal' T-shirt emblazoned with his picture, Toni said it would be difficult to pick out which of his goals was the best.

"I started at Modena and I've scored loads of goals for a lot of teams over the years, winning the World Cup and the top scorer's award in Italy and then playing in Germany," added Toni, who spent two and a half seasons with Bayern Munich.

"I've had an amazing career and every goal has been special."

Toni, who has also played for Palermo, Fiorentina (twice), Roma, Juventus and Genoa, hinted he may play beyond his 38th birthday which comes up next May.

Asked about his future plans, Toni added: "We hope to secure our top flight survival and then I'll decide at the end of the season."