Francesco Toldo Cavaliere OMRI (Italian pronunciation: ; born 2 December 1971) is an Italian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is regarded by pundits as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation.
In a professional career which spanned two full decades, he mainly represented Fiorentina and Inter Milan (eight and nine seasons respectively), winning a total of 15 trophies combined.
For the Italy national team, Toldo took part in five international competitions, being a starter in UEFA Euro 2000, where he helped Italy reach the final.
At under-21 level, Toldo made eight appearances for Italy between 1993 and 1994; he was notably a member of the side that won the 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, making a crucial save in the semi-final shoot-out against hosts France.
Toldo was capped 28 times for Italy. His debut came on 8 October 1995, replacing Gianfranco Zola after the ejection of Luca Bucci in a 1–1 draw in Croatia for the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifiers. He was picked up for the finals in England as a reserve.
Despite facing competition from high-profile goalkeepers such as Gianluca Pagliuca, Angelo Peruzzi, Christian Abbiati, Luca Marchegiani, Francesco Antonioli and in particular Gianluigi Buffon, Toldo was chosen to start in Euro 2000 as Buffon broke his hand in a friendly match against Norway just eight days before the tournament started.
He helped his country to a runner-up finish at Euro 2000, keeping three clean sheets, contributing to the elimination of both host nations (Belgium and the Netherlands) in the process. During the semi-final against hosts Netherlands, he saved one penalty in regulation time, and stopped two more in the successful shootout; he was named man of the match for his performance. In the final, Italy lost 2–1 to the reigning world champions France after a David Trezeguet golden goal in the 103rd minute; Italy had been leading 1–0, but Sylvain Wiltord equalised in the final minute of stoppage time to send the match into extra time. Toldo was named to the Team of the Tournament for his performances, also earning the third place in the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper Award. Following his successful European Championship campaign, Toldo played as a starter at the beginning of the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign; however, after recovering from the aforementioned injury, Buffon was eventually confirmed by Giovanni Trapattoni as Italy's first-choice goalkeeper.
Additionally, Toldo was an unused reserve in Italy's 1998 World Cup, 2002 World Cup, and Euro 2004 squads, after which he announced his retirement from international football in 2004. His final appearance for Italy came on 18 February 2004, in a 2–2 friendly draw against Czech Republic at the Stadio Renzo Barbera in Palermo.
UEFA European Championships Player Of The Match 2000-06-29 |
1990-1991 |
1991-1992 |
1992-1993 |
1993-2001 |
2001-2010 |
| Fiorentina | Appearances | Italian Serie A | 2000-2001 | 32 |