With only hours left until the much anticipated kick off of World Cup 2014, Coolbaby blog remembers a special time for Irish Sports Fans. He broke Irish hearts during World Cup 1990, 24 years on, where is Salvatore “Toto” Schillaci?
Salvatore Schillaci was born in Palermo, Sicily on December 1, 1964 to a very poor family, and began his playing career at local amateur side Amat Palermo. Soon, however, he was signed as an 18-year-old by fourth-tier side Messina, and the club rose up to Serie B. Toto’s 23 goals in that division in 1988-89 caught the eye of Juventus manager and Italy legend Dino Zoff.
With the World Cup due to be hosted in Italy at the end of the season, Toto hit form at the perfect time – his 15 goals helped Juve to a Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup double. Italy boss Azeglio Vicini called him up, and he made his international debut on March 1 in a friendly against Switzerland. Despite competition from star strikers including Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini, Schillaci made the cut for the 22-man World Cup squad.
The fairytale continued in the hosts’ opening match against Austria: coming off the bench with less than 15 minutes remaining, he headed the winner within two minutes. Despite his heroics, Vicini left him on the bench again against the USA, but when giving a starting berth against Czechoslovakia he took just nine minutes to justify his place with the opening goal of a 2-0 win. Italy’s unlikely hero scored in each subsequent match up to and including the semi-finals, where the Azzurri were defeated by reigning champions Argentina. Schillaci sealed his claim on the Golden Boot by scoring his sixth goal of the tournament in the third-place play-off win over England, and etched his name forever into World Cup history.
So what happened next…
After the World Cup the goals soon dried up for Toto. He only managed five in Serie A for Juventus the following season, and his next international strike, almost a year later against Norway, proved to be his last. A two-year spell at Internazionale was unsuccessful, and in 1994 Toto sought a new lease of life in Japan, becoming the first Italian to venture into the nascent J-League.
At Jubilo Iwata, Toto’s career was indeed reinvigorated, culminating in his final season in Japan in 1997 when the club won the league and were runners-up in the J-League Cup.
Upon retiring he moved back to his native Sicily, where he founded a football academy, had a stint as a local councilor in Palermo and appeared on reality TV show L’isola dei Famosi, the Italian celebrity version of Survivor. He also popped up on an Irish beer advert in 2002.
Unsurprisingly, his career nosedive has not dimmed the memories of those Notti Magiche di Schillaci, something for which the man himself will forever be grateful: “Even when I go abroad, thanks to the World Cup people know who I am. For any player, playing for your country should be your first priority because it can change your life, the way it changed mine. I still live amongst the people and buzz around Palermo on my scooter,” he explains. “I am one of the people, part of the community, people recognise me but don’t see me differently because I am Schillaci”.
International Statistics
1990 Played 12 games, scored 6 goals.
1991 Played 4 games, scored 1 goal.