Salvatore Schillaci (; born 1 December 1964), commonly referred to by his nickname Totò, is an Italian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

, who played as a striker. During his club career, he played for

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in t ...

(1982–1989),

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

(1989–1992), Internazionale (1992–1994) and

Júbilo Iwata is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For ...

(1994–1997). At the international level he was the surprise star of the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...

, as he helped

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to a third-place finish on home soil. Coming on as substitute in Italy's first game, Schillaci went on to score six goals throughout the World Cup, claiming the Golden Boot as the leading goalscorer, and received the Golden Ball as player of the tournament ahead of established stars Lothar Matthäus and

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

, who came second and third respectively. That year he also placed second in the

1990 Ballon d'Or The 1990 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was awarded to Lothar Matthäus on 25 December 1990. Rankings References External links ''France Football ...

, behind Matthäus.

Club career

Born in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

, Italy, from a poor family, Schillaci started to play for an amateur team of his native city, ''Amat Palermo''.Clemente Angelo Lisi (2011). "A History of the World Cup, 1930–2010". p. 220. Scarecrow Press, 2011. He then signed in 1982 for the Sicilian club

, where he played until 1989 and showed his goal-scoring abilities, most notably winning the Serie B top-scorer Award during the

1988–89 Serie B The Serie B 1988–89 was the fifty-seventh tournament of this competition played in Italy since its creation. Teams Ancona, Monza, Licata, Cosenza and Reggina had been promoted from Serie C, while Avellino and Empoli had been relegated from ...

season, with 23 goals. He then joined

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

club

, and made his debut in Serie A on 27 August 1989. Juventus, the "Old Lady" of Italian football, was at the time suffering from the breakup of the wonder team which dominated Italian football in the 1980s, under manager

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), sometimes popularly known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Italian football. A former defensive midfielder, as a p ...

; Schillaci's arrival coincided with a return to form under the direction of former legendary Juventus goalkeeper Dino Zoff. He featured prominently for the Turinese club that season, scoring 15 league goals and 21 in all competitions in a very positive year, which ended with Juventus winning both the 1989–90

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

and the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

titles. Due to his clever, inventive, and aggressive attacking style, he was then selected by head coach of

, Azeglio Vicini, to play in the

, to be hosted by Italy itself, despite being a novice in the arena of national team competitions. After the end of the 1990 World Cup, Schillaci played one more year for Juventus, alongside his Italy attacking team-mate

Roberto Baggio Roberto Baggio (; born 18 February 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. He is the former pr ...

, before joining Internazionale. Schillaci ultimately fell short of the expectations of the Inter fans, as well as those of Juventus, mainly because of the physical troubles which he suffered after the 1990 campaign. In 1994, he joined Japanese club

, becoming the first Italian player to play in the J.League, and he won the J.League Division 1 title with the club in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. He retired in 1999.

International career

After making one over-age appearance for the Italy Under-21 side, under

Cesare Maldini Cesare Maldini (; 5 February 1932 – 3 April 2016) was an Italian professional football manager and player who played as a defender. Father to Paolo Maldini and grandfather to Daniel Maldini, Cesare began his career with Italian side Tries ...

, Schillaci made his senior international debut for

under manager Azeglio Vicini, on 31 March 1990, in a 1–0 friendly away win over

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, in Basel. He was subsequently called up for Italy's squad for the

, to be played on home soil. At the 1990 World Cup, Schillaci replaced Andrea Carnevale during Italy's first match against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He scored the decisive goal as the match ended with a 1–0 win for Italy. Against the USA, Schillaci again made an appearance as a substitute, but he started the next match, against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, alongside

. Italy won 2–0, with Baggio and Schillaci both scoring. Schillaci started alongside Baggio in Italy's next two matches of the knock-out stages, also opening the scoring in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

respectively, and set up

Aldo Serena Aldo Serena (; born 25 June 1960) is an Italian former professional footballer, who was usually deployed as a forward. He played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, winning four Serie A titles, among other trophies; he is mainly re ...

's goal against Uruguay. For the semi-final match against defending champions

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli (; born 9 July 1964) is an Italian former football manager and player who played as a striker. Since retiring, he has gone into management, punditry and worked previously as a commentator for Sky Sport Italia. He is currentl ...

replaced Baggio in the starting line-up, whereas Schillaci kept his place in the team. The match ended 1–1, with Schillaci scoring his fifth goal of the tournament, but Italy were eliminated after a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, in which he controversially refused to take a penalty, stating injury as the reason for his choice. After setting up Baggio's opening goal, Schillaci scored the winning goal in Italy's 2–1 win in the third-place match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

from a penalty, and won the Golden Boot, with six goals, as well as the Golden Ball Award for the best player of the tournament. Overall, he scored seven goals in sixteen caps for Italy between 1990 and 1991, scoring his only other goal for Italy in a 2–1 defeat away against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, in 1991, in an UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying match.

Style of play

Schillaci was a small, quick, agile, and mobile striker, with an eye for the goal, and solid technique. A prolific, reliable, and opportunistic goalscorer, Schillaci was known in particular for his anticipation, reactions, and his excellent positional sense, which, along with his acceleration, enabled him to make attacking runs to beat opponents to the ball in the area, giving him the reputation for frequently being "in the right place at the right time". He was capable of finishing well both inside and outside the area, as well as from volleys, with powerful strikes, and was capable of scoring with his head as well as with his feet, despite not being particularly imposing in the air; he was also accurate on set pieces and effective on penalties. Although he was primarily known for his selfish and instinctive style of play, he was also capable of linking-up with and playing off of his team-mates, despite not being a particularly notable passer. Due to his goalscoring exploits, his former Messina manager

Francesco Scoglio Francesco "Franco" Scoglio (; 2 May 1941 – 3 October 2005) was an Italian football manager who coached at both national and international level. Playing career Francesco Scoglio was born in Lipari, in the province of Messina, Italy. He pl ...

described him by saying he had "never seen a player who wanted to score as much as him."

Retirement

Schillaci retired in 1999. Today he lives back in his native Palermo, where he owns a youth academy of football. He appeared as a guest on ''

Craig Doyle Live ''Craig Doyle '' was an Irish weekly topical comedy-style chat show which aired from November 2011 as ''The Social'' until 2012, then continued until 2013, and was shown on RTÉ Two. Portrayed as live programme, some episodes were recorded in ad ...

'' during

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

. Former South African national team captain Steven Pienaar is nicknamed ''Schillo'' after Schillaci.

Personal life

Schillaci's nephew Francesco Di Mariano is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

:Appearances by national team and year :''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first.''

Honours

Messina *

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega P ...

: 1985–86 *

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

: 1982–83 Juventus *

: 1989–90 *

: 1989–90 Internazionale *UEFA Cup: 1993–94 Júbilo Iwata * J.League:

;Italy *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

third place:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

Individual *

: Golden Boot *

: Golden Ball *

: All-Star Team *

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

Top-scorer: 1988–89 *

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (f ...

(2nd place):

* Onze d'Argent: 1990 Orders : Cavaliere OMRI BAR

5th Class / Knight: '' Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana'': 1991

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schillaci, Salvatore 1964 births Living people Footballers from Palermo Italian footballers Italy international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Italian expatriate footballers A.C.R. Messina players Juventus F.C. players Inter Milan players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate footballers in Japan Italian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Júbilo Iwata players J1 League players Association football forwards Italy B international footballers UEFA Cup winning players Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic