Bayern Grabs German Cup
April 20, 2008
Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni scored both of the two Bayern goals when he took a pass from French international Franck Ribery in the 11th minute and then scored the winning goal 13 minutes into extra time.
Between those goals, Croatian international Mladen Petric reaped a dramatic injury time equalizer for Dortmund, who ended the game with just 10 team members after Jakub Blaszczykowski was sent off the field in the second half of extra time due to a second bookable offense.
The match saw club captain Oliver Kahn win a record-breaking sixth cup winners' medal, while Toni celebrated his 34th and 35th goals of the season for Bayern.
Swooning over the Italian
The Italian has won the hearts of Bayern Munich fans anyway -- with eight goals in the last four matches, an impressive 10-day stretch in which he's led his team to the German Cup, the UEFA Cup semi-finals and on the brink of the Bundesliga title.
The striker has his own fondness for Berlin, where the match was played. Nearly two years ago, he helped Italy beat France to win the World Cup in the same stadium.
After the game at the Olympiastadion Saturday night, Toni lifted the German Cup, and later told German television: "It's incredible here," speaking about the German capital.
Bayern Munich fans are likely to say that Toni's dazzling performance was just as incredible.
Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, at any rate, could hardly contain his enthusiasm for Toni.
"He's a world-class striker," he told Reuters news agency. "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."
With 35 goals in 41 matches in all competitions, Toni has chalked up much of the tally for Bayern of late. He may also be the one to help the team recover from last season's fourth place league finish with a record three titles this season.
"It's always good to win titles," Toni said. "We've won the German Cup and now we want to win the Bundesliga championship and then get the triple with the UEFA Cup," he said Saturday.
"I really wanted to lift this German Cup. It's my first national cup," he said.