Farewell to Totò Schillaci, the blue of the Magic Nights
Beloved for his exploits with the national team in the 1990 World Cup
The world of soccer è in mourning. At the age of 59, è Totò Schillaci, the Azzurri hero of the 1990 World Cup, has died. Struck down by cancer, the former Messina, Juventus, Inter and Jubilo Iwata striker was an icon of Italian soccer.
Salvatore Schillaci, known as Totò, was born on Dec. 1, 1964, in Palermo, Sicily, and began his soccer career in AMAT, a neighborhood team linked to a municipal company. Palermo tried to buy him along with Carmelo Mancuso for 28 million lire, but AMAT asked for 35 million, and the negotiations failed. In 1982, Schillaci moved to Messina, a Serie C2 team. In the 1985-86 season he contributed 11 goals to promotion to Serie B.
Schillaci played with Messina for seven years, putting himself on the map with the support of coach Franco Scoglio. The following season he scored 13 goals, and under Zdeněk Zeman, scored 23 goals, becoming Serie B’s top scorer. By the end of his adventure with Messina, Totò had collected 256 appearances, including 37 in the Coppa Italia, becoming the second player with the most appearances and the second highest scorer in the history of the club.
In 1989 he was bought by Juventus for 6 billion lire and, already in his first season, scored 15 goals in 30 games, earning the nickname "Totò-Gol". He also contributed to winning the Coppa Italia and the Uefa Cup in the same year. Thanks to these performances, he was called up for the 1990 World Cup. During his time at Juventus, he established a strong friendship with Roberto Baggio. However, with the arrival of Gianluca Vialli, Schillaci finds less space and leaves the club in 1992, partly because of personal problems.
He moved to Inter for 8.5 billion liras and in two seasons scored 11 goals in 30 games, contributing to the Uefa Cup victory. In April 1994, he left Inter to move to Júbilo Iwata in Japan. Schillaci did well right away, scoring on his debut, but was also disqualified for insulting the referee. In 1997 he won the J. League with Júbilo Iwata, but a serious injury led to his retirement in 1999 after scoring 56 goals in 78 games for the Japanese club. Overall in his career he played 120 games and scored 37 goals in Serie A, and 105 games with 39 goals in Serie B.
In the 1990 World Cup, Schillaci started as a reserve, but entered in the second half of the debut match against Austria and scored the decisive goal. He became a starter and continued to score, forming an attacking pair with Roberto Baggio. After retiring, Schillaci opened a youth sports center in Palermo and participated in various local soccer projects. In 2001 he è also ran as a candidate as a city councilor in Palermo for Forza Italia.
