“He brought a dream to the entire country”: Condolences for Italy’s soccer icon Totò Schillaci, who passed away at the age of 59

Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci, the top scorer at the 1990 World Cup in his native country and a former striker for Juventus and Italy, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 59, according to a statement released by his old club.

Italy’s soccer icon Totò

According to AP, Schillaci passed away on Wednesday morning after being.

Brought to Civic Hospital in Palermo for treatment of colon cancer. He had been there for 11 days Italy’s soccer icon Totò.

The Sicilian won the Golden Boot for scoring six goals during the competition.

Including two goals in Italy’s third-place victory over England and one against Argentina in the semifinals of the 1990 edition of international soccer’s biggest award Italy’s soccer icon Totò.

Schillaci joined Juventus in 1989, and the team stated, “We fell in love with Totò straightaway.

Every game he played demonstrated his drive, his tale, and his incredibly intense emotion Italy’s soccer icon Totò.

“We at Juventus were fortunate enough to become thrilled about him before the entire Italian country became enthralled.

With those gloriously exuberant celebrations of his during that amazing summer of 1990.”

Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, expressed similar feelings on social media, writing.

Salvatore Schillaci, popularly referred to as Totò, was our national team’s striker during the unforgettable nights in Italy in 1990.

We are grateful for the feelings you instilled in us; for inspiring us to dream, rejoice, embrace, and fly our flag. Cheers to your journey, champion.

Due to his outstanding goal-scoring performance that summer, Schillaci was voted the 1990 Ballon d’Or runner-up.

Behind West Germany’s World Cup-winning captain Lothar Matthäus. The Ballon d’Or is given yearly to the finest men’s player.

He brought a dream

After the World Cup, Schillaci would only score one more goal for his nation, which came the following year in a qualifier for the 1992 UEFA European Championships against Norway, losing 2-1.

After that, he did not represent Italy in any more significant competitions.

Schillaci won the 1989–1990 Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup with Juventus at home before Inter Milan won the trophy again four years later.

“You allowed a whole nation to dream during the Notti Magiche of Italia ’90,” Inter wrote in a social media post honoring its former striker on Wednesday.

Schillaci was referred to as “a champion who lit up the’magic evenings’ of Italia 90” by Serie A president Lorenzo Casini.

The striker joined the J. League in 1994, making him the first Italian player to compete there. He and his team, Jubilo Iwata, won the league championship in 1997.

In 1999, Schillaci declared his retirement from competitive gaming.

For the rest of this week, before every league game across the nation.

A minute of silence will be observed in Schillaci’s honor, according to Italian Soccer Federation President Gabriele Gravina.