18 September 2024 , 10:54
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Italy’s Prime Minster has led tributes to Salvatore Schillaci after the ‘football icon’ and World Cup hero died at the age of 59.
Ex-Italy striker Schillaci, better known as ‘Toto’, was the top scorer at the 1990 World Cup with six goals.
The former Messina, Juventus and Inter Milan star only earned 16 caps for Italy but gained hero status for his role in the home 1990 tournament.
Schillaci was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2022.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: ‘A football icon leaves us, a man who entered the hearts of Italians and sports lovers around the world.
‘Salvatore Schillaci, known to all as Toto, the bomber of the magical nights of Italia ’90 with our national team.
‘Thank you for the emotions you gave us, for making us dream, cheer, hug and wave our Tricolore. Have a good trip, champion.’
Schillaci began his career at Italian third division club Messina before joining Juventus in 1989, where he won the Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup.
One of Schillaci’s former clubs, Juventus, added in a statement: ‘We immediately fell in love with Toto.
‘His desire, his story, his being so wonderfully passionate, and it showed in every game he played.
‘We at Juve were lucky enough to get excited about him before, in that incredible summer of 1990, the whole of Italy did, captivated by those wonderfully energetic celebrations of his.
‘Because Toto arrived at Juve in 1989, and in that season he scored 15 goals in the league, four in the UEFA Cup and two in the Coppa Italia.
‘Numbers that earned him the Azzurri shirt in the Italian World Cup, which – also thanks to him – became what we all remember as those ‘Magical Nights’.
‘Top scorer in the competition and, with the national team, third, for an immense collective dream only stopped by those penalty kicks in Naples.
‘His Juventus story went on for another two years, until 1992, making 132 appearances and scoring 36 goals – thirty-six of those magnificent strikes that we now watch over with a lump in our throats.
‘Ciao, Toto. And thank you.’