HIBAPRESS-RABAT-FIFA
The gray horse appeared out of nowhere. There were only 500 meters left to go when the name Schillaci was first mentioned. The imposing horse galloped relentlessly, overtaking Final Card, King Marauding, Noble Lancer, Raw Talent, Street Ruffian, Umatilla and Wrap Around and winning the 1992 Lightning Stakes on his Group 1 debut.
The footballer who inspired his name also appeared out of nowhere to shine in his first appearance among the elite. Totò Schillaci grew up in a poor and difficult neighborhood. He dropped out of school. At his first club, rather than receiving a salary, he earned around a dollar and 90 cents per goal.
The Palermo man then spent seven unspectacular seasons with the Sicilian club Messina. In 1984/85, he scored four goals in 31 matches in Serie C. In his first season in Serie B, in 1986/87, he scored three times in 33 matches. Many wondered if he was up to the task.
Yet despite only playing in Serie A in 1989 and never playing internationally until three and a half months before the start of the 1990 FIFA World Cup™, Schillaci was a surprise in Azeglio Vicini’s Italy team, which, bizarrely, included as many attackers as midfielders.
“It was a big surprise,” he said. “I didn’t expect to have playing time. I didn’t even expect to be on the bench. »
Yet Schillaci’s story was only just beginning. Against all expectations, he was called to the bench – preferred to Roberto Mancini and Aldo Serena – for Italy’s first match in the competition, against Austria. With no goals after 75 minutes of play, in front of a crowd of irritated Italians inside the Stadio Olimpico, Vicini turned not to Roberto Baggio but to Schillaci.
“At first I didn’t realize he was calling me,” the number 19 revealed. As he unzipped his track jacket, Stefano Tacconi, Schillaci’s Juventus teammate, called out to him. says “go ahead and nod like John Charles”.
Three minutes later, that’s exactly what Schillaci did, taking advantage of Vialli’s strong performance to snatch a 1-0 victory for Italy. He celebrated by running chaotically, arms flailing and eyes wide.
“It was indescribable,” he said. “I didn’t even expect to get on the field. And there, I scored in the World Cup. My vision went black. I just ran, stunned. It was one of the best feelings of my entire life. »
After a 1-0 defeat against the United States, where Schillaci came on again in the second period, he started against Czechoslovakia. It took just nine minutes for the 25-year-old to head home and put the Nazionale into the knockout stage.
Schillaci broke the deadlock with a superb diving strike from outside the box against Uruguay in the round of 16, before scoring the only goal of the match against the Republic of Ireland in the quarter-finals. A predatory goal ensued against Argentina in the semi-final, but Italy ended up losing on penalties. Schillaci had left his place to take care of his swollen ankle.
The Italians’ hopes of winning the trophy had evaporated, but not the Sicilian’s. With minutes to go in the third-place match against England, Joel Quiniou pointed to the penalty mark when Paul Parker tripped Schillaci. Roberto Baggio graciously relinquished his penalty-taking duties and allowed Schillaci to send Peter Shilton the wrong way and score his sixth goal of the 1990 Italian World Cup. This gave the Azzurri a bronze medal and Schillaci to capture the adidas Golden Shoe.
It was such an improbable feat that Schillaci was not even on the list of 70 players put forward by a British bookmaker for the top scorer award. Careca and Marco van Basten were the co-favorites. They were followed by Vialli, Gary Lineker, Diego Maradona, Romário, Jürgen Klinsmann, the Brazilian Müller, Ruud Gullit, Baggio, Bebeto, Rudi Völler, Andrea Carnevale, Claudio Caniggia, Rubén Sosa, Darko Pančev, Emilio Butragueño, Toni Polster and Wim Kieft. It also gives Schillaci the record of being the only player to start on the bench and finish a World Cup as top scorer.
“I was our sixth striker,” he said. “I was extremely honored to participate in the World Cup. I really didn’t expect to play. »
“It was a dream to be on the bench, it was a dream to come on. Then the goals came. It was the most magical moment of my life. »
“Italians always talk about the ‘magic nights of Totò Schillaci’. Can you imagine how happy this makes me? Sometimes people burst into tears when they see me. »
“No matter what country I go to, people want to talk to me about the goals in 1990. They ask me to look wild (laughs). I found out they even named a racehorse after me! It’s really great that people still remember me. »
Schillaci sadly passed away in September 2024, aged just 59. “ The magical nights of Totò Schillaci » ensures that his name is never forgotten. What will happen to his World Cup record?
