Luca Toni has won the hearts of Bayern Munich fans with eight goals in the last four matches, an amazing 10-day tear leading his team to the German Cup, the UEFA Cup semi-finals and on the brink of the Bundesliga title. But the towering Italy striker, who wants to win two more titles with Bayern within the next month, admitted on Saturday he has a special place in his heart for Berlin.
After he helped Italy beat France in the same stadium nearly two years ago to win the World Cup, Toni lifted the German Cup at the Olympiastadion on Saturday after leading Bayern with another dazzling two-goal performance.
"Yes it's special for me and I had the good fortune to play here for the World Cup with Italy," Toni told German television after scoring both goals in Bayern's 2-1 extra-time win over Borussia Dortmund in Saturday's German Cup final. "It's incredible here," he said, noting he had the same locker for both matches in the German capital city, which is 600 km (400 miles) north of Munich.
"It's always good to win titles. We won the German Cup and now we want to win the Bundesliga championship and then get the triple with the UEFA Cup. I really wanted to lift this German Cup. It's my first national cup."
If Bayern can complete their recovery from last season's dismal fourth place league finish with a record three titles this season, it will be Toni who deserves much of the credit. With 35 goals in 41 matches in all competitions, Toni has been a veritable goal-machine for Bayern, a remarkably reliable goal scorer who has never come close to a scoring slump.
In the last fortnight, Toni scored two goals in the final five minutes of extra-time in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals against Getafe, two more in Bayern's 5-0 thrashing of Dortmund in the Bundesliga, two in Bayern's come-from-behind 3-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday and two more on Saturday. "He's extraordinary," said goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, Bayern's captain.
"It's rare that you see a striker who takes advantage of his chances in such cold-blooded fashion as Toni." Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld could also barely contain his enthusiasm for Toni.
"He's a world-class striker. He's got an amazing instinct for goals. He's always believing he can score two or three goals in each match. He's never satisfied and always hungry for more goals. He's a real winner, a leader on our team."