Salvatore ‘Toto’ Schillaci only made his Italy debut at the end of March 1990 – but a little over three months later he was a national hero and recognised the world over for his wide-eyed and wide-armed celebration.
His story started in December 1964 when he was born in a poor area of Palermo but this thrilling tale really got going at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, 26 years later.
The World Cup hosts had to wait until the second day of the tournament for their first fixture, with neighbours Austria arriving in the capital determined to spoil the party.
They looked like doing just that until Schillaci, shortly after coming on as a substitute having been named in the squad as a back-up striker, met Gianluca Vialli’s cross and headed home the only goal of the game with 12 minutes left to play.
In total he claimed seven goals for his country and six of them were at Italia 90, where he finished the tournament top of the scoring charts and was named best player as Italy lost in the semis to Argentina before beating England in the third-place play-off.
Schillaci represented the Azzurri 16 times and played for Juventus, Inter and Japanese outfit Jubilo Iwata but the largest spell of his career was with Messina in Sicily.
He was 59 when he died in September 2024 – two years after being diagnosed with colon cancer – having been taken to hospital in Palermo.
He never played for his hometown club but in Palermo ‘the pride of Sicily’ will never be forgotten.
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