Former Italy striker Salvatore “Toto” Schillaci, the top scorer at the 1990 World Cup, died on Wednesday at the age of 59 after a long battle with illness, the Italian Football Federation said.
“Toto Schillaci, the symbol of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, died on Wednesday at the age of 59,” the federation said in a statement, and decided that a minute’s silence would be held before all matches scheduled in Italy from Wednesday to Sunday.
Juventus were among the first clubs to mourn Schillaci, who played for them and became a football icon in the country and the world after his unexpected brilliance during the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Juventus published a picture of the striker in a Bianconeri shirt, accompanied by the phrase “Goodbye Toto.”
An Italian media report revealed that Schillaci died in a hospital in Palermo after suffering from colon cancer.
Italian champions Inter, for whom Schillaci played between 1992 and 1994, also paid tribute: “He made the dream of the whole country come true during the magical nights of the 1990 World Cup. Inter stands by the Schillaci family after the passing of Toto.”
Toto played for Juventus (1989-1992), with whom he won the 1990 UEFA Cup, and Inter, having started his career at Messina (1982-1989), without much success. He left Inter to join Jubilo Iwata in Japan, where he ended his career in 1997.
He became a national hero in the summer of 1990 after scoring six goals, making him the top scorer in his country’s World Cup, and helped Italy reach the semi-finals, where they lost to Argentina on penalties 4-3 after a 1-1 draw in regular and extra time in front of their fans in Naples.
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