The world of football is in mourning for the loss of Salvatore Schillaci. Giancarlo Rinaldi pays tribute to the man who burned so brightly at Italy’s home World Cup.
We’ve all lost a little bit of magic today. The brilliant, bug-eyed striker who lit up Italia ’90 for fans of the Azzurri – and many beyond – is gone. Few players shone with such intensity and sheer unbridled joy as Totò Schillaci.
There have been plenty of greater players for Italy and lots who won more honours but few won the hearts of a nation as much as the Sicilian goalscorer. In an age where our stars have become increasingly distant, he felt like he was one of us. When he scored a goal for his country he burst with pride that came buzzing through his body and transmitted itself to fans in the ground and watching on TV. He was living our collective dream and he wasn’t afraid to show it.
He seemed just as surprised as we were at how he seized the world stage in that summer of the Notte Magiche (Magic Nights). Just a year before the tournament, the boy from Palermo was plying his trade with Messina and was hardly on the radar of La Nazionale. A move to Juventus and a season where he scored a goal every other game in Serie A made his claims to play for his country irresistible.
It was that rags-to-riches story that grabbed our attention and made us fall in love with the little hitman. His Italy debut came just months before the tournament when it was fully expected Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini would be Azeglio Vicini’s star men. Then along came Totò and Roberto Baggio and ripped up those plans. The Divin Codino would be a star for decades to come, his attacking companion would burn out much more quickly.
But what joy he gave us, though, as he scorched through opposition defences. At a home tournament, in front of demanding Italian fans, the Azzurri were in danger of being frustrated by Austria in their opening match. Enter Schillaci to turn the match and send his country flying towards the later stages.
More goals followed against Czechoslovakia, Uruguay, the Republic of Ireland, Argentina and England. It was not enough to take his team to the title – they ultimately finished third – but the player ended up as the tournament top scorer and was the undisputed star of the competition. It was a glorious, beautiful surprise and you got the feeling that few people were more shocked than the player himself.
He never scaled those heights again. The goals dried up with Juve and a switch to Inter failed to spark him back to life. He moved to Jubilo Iwata in Japan and then retired from the game in the late 1990s. His most memorable moments had all been packed into a season or a season and a half or so.
That did not mean, though, that he was forgotten. It was enough to hear the songs from that summer or watch him wheeling away in celebration to feel the hairs standing up on the back of your neck once more. Totò knew what it meant to the tifosi to see Italy win and he was not shy in letting us see how much it meant to him either. The delight and astonishment on his face after those World Cup goals is still etched in our collective memories.
He was no mean player, either – quick, agile and with a thunderous shot, he gave Italy a dash of unpredictability that took them to the brink of winning that home World Cup. Schillaci was the passionate Sicilian heart of that effort. A failure, perhaps, but a glorious one that gave us so many special moments.
Just 59 years old is no age at all to have lost such a figure. We knew he was unwell but, still, it came as a blow on an otherwise serene September morning. We can only be thankful for all the sheer delight he gave us in that stupendous summer. For the goals, for the memories and for that beaming, beautiful smile – Grazie Totò.