Luca Toni's farewell closes book on one of Italy's most unlikely careers

Even towards the end of his career, Luca Toni wasn't afraid to try new things. In 2015 at the San Siro, the tall Italian striker chipped a penalty past AC Milan goalkeeper Diego Lopez, fulfilling a dream he's always had at one of Europe's big stadiums.

And so, in his final match as a professional, Toni didn't shy away from the opportunity to make a similar mark on the newly crowned Serie A champion. This Panenka was just as perfect, fooling Neto in the Juventus goal for one of Hellas Verona's two goals in an unexpected 2-1 victory Sunday.

Related - Watch: Toni coolly converts Panenka in farewell match vs. Juventus

The truth is that Toni could've kept going. He doesn't take quitting lightly. "Fortunately I've earned a lot of money in my life," Toni said in 2013. "I am only still playing because I love football. I like to train. I like to work hard. I like to sacrifice myself. And as long as that's the case, I'll keep playing."

Toni brought so much joy to Italian football, his crazy celebrations and hand gestures making him a lovable player, if not a graceful one. He was no Thierry Henry. "Goofy would be a charitable description of his running style," the Guardian's Raphael Honigstein wrote in 2008. "Emile Heskey moves like Nadia Comaneci in comparison."

But there were so many goals - 324 in total - in so many forms. His headers were menacing - no one in Serie A history has scored more than his 47 - but he was also a threat beyond the penalty box. He grew up as an attacking midfielder, watching Michel Platini in the 1980s during his Ballon d'Or days with Juventus. That's why Toni had a tendency to drift and play from deeper positions, and the touch to chip the goalkeeper. He was a hard player to mark.

His career is also difficult to map. Toni played for 15 different clubs, climbing the rungs of Italian football to become Europe's top scorer and a World Cup winner in 2006, and, eventually, Bayern Munich's main man in 2008.

Success was slow. He came from a small town in Modena and bounced around the third division before settling at Palermo. It was in Sicily where he established himself as a poacher, and where he first conceived his wacky post-goal routine.

"I came up with this celebration in Palermo at a dinner with friends," he told FIFA. "One of them asked me how beautiful something was. He said, 'Did you see how beautiful it is? Did you see these beautiful things?' It's a gesture that I liked and I said, 'If I score on Sunday, I'll do it.'"

And he never stopped. Not at Fiorentina, where he netted 31 goals, not at Bayern, where he outshone the likes of Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose, not at Juventus or Roma, where he enjoyed brief stays.

After moving to Germany, he became one of the most expensive players in Europe. His peak came at 30 years old, but still, his simple and direct approach to football making the German philosophy of movement look moot. Sometimes Bayern looked static with Toni up front, but he ended up notching 24 goals in his first 31 Bundesliga appearances, and winning the league title. He was the perfect target man.

Journalists depicted him as a mercenary, never spending more than three years at any one club. His move to Al Nasr in the Middle East in 2012 - a sort of semi-retirement - did little to stop the criticism.

A personal tragedy threatened to end his career, when his wife suffered a miscarriage. At this point closer to 40 than 30, Toni, the late bloomer that he is, didn't give in. He wanted to reach 300 Serie A goals, which he did, and get back to loving the game. He re-joined Fiorentina, and in 2013 he took a 40 percent paycut to link up with Verona.

The goals flowed again. He became the oldest player to finish a Serie A campaign as a top scorer (tied with Inter's Mauro Icardi on 22 goals) last year. Muscular injuries limited his contributions this season. He called this one "the worst year of my career." The story had to end.

He's given all he could to the game, and he won't consider being a coach. "I saw my former teammates age five years for every one," he said Sunday. It's the only thing he will not try.