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Luca Toni relaxed about Italy call-up

Hellas Verona striker Luca Toni is not concerned that Italy coach Cesare Prandelli had already left the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi before he netted his 14th and 15th goals of the season on Sunday.

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caption:Luca Toni has struck 15 goals this season.
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World Cup Daily

Toni, 36, is just one strike short of equalling his tally for Fiorentina in 2006-07, while another would make him Verona's all-time leading scorer in a single campaign.

His contribution to a 3-0 victory over Genoa at the weekend, however, was not seen by Prandelli.

The Italy boss had already left the stadium on a visit which was most likely made with the intention of seeing Serie A’s third top scorer in view of a call-up to his World Cup squad -- eight years after Toni was part of Marcello Lippi's 2006 selection.

"We're in such a football-obsessed country that I'm sure he'll find out what I did in one way or another," Toni said after Sunday's game. "I'm delighted with these goals because it's not easy to come to Verona at the age of 36 and break these records. Now I hope to break even more."

According to Verona coach Andrea Mandorlini, Prandelli will have seen enough of Toni to mark him down as a serious candidate for his squad for Brazil.

"Prandelli knows Toni better than anybody," he told Mediaset. "He may have come to watch the game today, but he was not discovering anything new about Luca.

"All he has to do is get to the end of the season in the best possible condition."

So too do Verona, who are still in the hunt for a place in the Europa League.

Mandorlini, though, would prefer not to think about the five-point gap separating his side from the top five having lost four games in a row the last time they were in contention.

"Let's not talk about things like this," Mandorlini said. "We're happy with the way the season has gone. When we did start to think about it, we froze so let's just take things one game at a time."