Toldo came up with
A.C. Milan; however, he never played a game with the club. Instead, the Italian giants loaned him out to
Trento and
Ravenna from
1991 to
1993. Toldo then joined
Fiorentina, and became the club's starter for eight seasons, winning the
Coppa Italia twice, and playing a
UEFA Champions League for the
Viola. After Fiorentina faced bankruptcy, he transferred to
F.C. Internazionale Milano in
2001, where he was the number one until the summer of 2005, when
Brazilian keeper
Júlio César relegated Toldo to the bench after Toldo elected to sit out Inter's summer friendly match tour of England. He regained the #1 jersey in February 2006 following his signing of a contract extension and a slip in form by César, not before rumours linked him both to
Palermo, A.C. Milan, and Fiorentina. The extension will keep him under contract with Inter until 2009.
[1] Francesco Toldo saved 10 penalty kicks out of 72 in Serie A.
As of the end of
2004, Toldo has been
capped 28 times for
Italy. Despite facing competition from high profile keepers such as
Gianluca Pagliuca,
Angelo Peruzzi, and
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. Toldo helped his country to finish runner up behind
France. During the semi-final against the home team of
Netherlands, Toldo saved one penalty during the match and two during the shootout. In the final however he failed to save a crucial shot by
Sylvain Wiltord as the game was nearing to a close with Italy ahead by one. France won in extra time with a goal by
David Trézéguet.
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