59 years old. This is the age at which Salvatore “Toto`” Schillaci, top scorer of the Italia 90 World Cup, died on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. With fatalism. From cancer. In a hospital in Palermo. Joining his compatriot and colleague Paolo Rossi, who died in 2020 at the age of 64, top scorer of Espana 82, in the paradise of football artificers.
Jean-Guillaume Lozato *
Palermo. A warm and sunny September. The Sicilian sky saw one of its stars definitively join the galaxy of deceased celebrities. With an inevitable flashback to the summer of 1990 to understand the emotion aroused by the disappearance of an immense national sports figure.
From lower divisions to international glory. That sums up the brilliance of success of a man from the deep south of Italy. Wherever he went, Schillaci caused trouble for opposing defenses.
Having passed through the regional amateur section of the Italian championship, his exploits had the effect of bringing Messina to Serie B where he finished top of the scorers’ ranking.
The expression of the talent of the Palermo native going crescendo, he incorporated the great Juventus of Turin for the 1989-1990 season. Time to evolve positively in this monstrous Italian first division at the time. Time to win an Italian Cup and a UEFA Cup. Time to prepare, to improve to make himself known at the highest level (he finished the season with 15 goals on the counter, one length behind the mythical Diego Maradona). Internationally.
Third with the Italian national team in “Worldwide” Organized in Italy, Juventino made an impression by scoring 6 goals, placing him first in the scorers’ ranking of this major tournament. Like Paolo Rossi eight years earlier, with an identical number of goals.
After glory, wandering
Afterwards, the post-World Cup period left clear psychological scars. Too much pressure on the shoulders of a boy who had experienced everything very quickly. Too quickly?
Surely too stressed and badly advised, the center forward ended his career in Japan, after a break at Inter Milan and an irregular performance. A sort of exile reminiscent of the temporary departure of Gerd Muller, another very great goal hunter (German top scorer) to the United States at the end of the 70s.
No matter, the image of Salvatore the Sicilian with bulging eyes and such impressive spontaneity in gesture gives him the advantage of being granted forgiveness in addition to the recognition of the supporters. A safe conduct that was the precious sesame of his Tuscan counterpart Paolo Rossi.
The two legends contributed to the writing of the Golden Book of Italian sporting epics. RIP
Well-deserved tribute
Italy finds itself orphaned of the man who had lit up an entire summer with his impact on the pitch and his enthusiasm which gave confidence to his teammates who were paralyzed by the challenge of playing in front of their fans.
Incisive, decisive, technical (think of his pigeon-wing pass against Uruguay), physical, diabolical, magical. So many nouns can refer to his state of grace in June and July 1990.
Unlike Paolo Rossi, also a Juventus player at the time of the major events, the islander was able to score from the start of the competition to set the Squadra Azzurra machine in motion, then led by Azeglio Vicini. His predecessor, however, had waited until the second round to smash Brazil with a deadly hat-trick.
Otherwise, the two men had some similarities. The short stature (1.73 meters for Schillaci and 1.74 meters for Rossi), the art of being forgotten (like later Pippo Inzaghi) to better emerge mercilessly, and the talent. Add to this the fact of not belonging to the industrially triumphant Northern Italy (Central Italy for Rossi, Southern Italy for Schillaci) which acted as a unifying element at the national level.
Yes, as a warm tribute was paid to Paolo Rossi upon his death, our late national of “Mezzogiorno” deserves a global wave.
Toto` is no more. He nevertheless remains eternal in our memories. Thinking of him is like evoking a carefree Berlusconi Italy, both in football and in everyday life. He and his teammate Roberto Baggio, another great idol of the 1990s, enchanted what the Italians had nicknamed the “Magical Nights” of this summer time of collective happiness.
The rude awakening for the Squadra Azzurra
A page has turned. The 80s and 90s, corresponding to a golden age of Italian football, seem suddenly relegated to the archives with the disappearance of its two best scorers in the World Cup. A volume of History whose closed cover slams like a big slap in the face of any nostalgic for the round ball. A shock that can wake you up as well as knock you out.
Beware of a rude awakening for Italian footballers and their leaders. It is time to rethink the competitiveness of the professional sport in question. The first step will be to question ourselves, admitting the glaring lack of individualities for the “National” current one which is perhaps the least efficient on a par with that of 1955-1960. If not the worst for the moment on paper. The next one will consist of creating and then consolidating a collective osmosis because currently the providential Italian scorer has not yet arrived.
On a European and global scale, the memory of these two great champions, Paolo Rossi and Salvatore Schillaci, revives the feeling that the performances of national teams are just as important as those of the big clubs that animate the Champions League. Thinking of Schillaci proves that one can daydream and that Italy is originally a serious supplier of talent, as his global revelation was an excellent surprise launching the last decade of the last century.
* Academic and writer.
