Ammon News - Tributes have been paid to Salvatore Schillaci after the former Italy forward died at the age of 59. Schillaci became synonymous with Italia 90, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot, and will be remembered as the face of the tournament.

Schillaci, whose clubs included Juventus and Inter, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2022 and taken to hospital in Palermo last week. Inter said he made an “entire nation dream during the magic nights of Italia 90” and Juventus referenced that World Cup in their tribute.

In 1989, Schillaci became Serie B’s top scorer and, having caught the eye of the Juventus manager Giovanni Trapattoni, swapped modest Sicilian Messina for life in Turin.

Short, swarthy and sometimes hot-tempered, he was sharp, mobile and an opportunistic finisher blessed with an impressive change of pace and obsessed with the goalscoring art. Schillaci scored 21 times for Juventus in the 1989-90 session while collecting Uefa Cup and Coppa Italia winners’ medals.

It earned him a slot in Azeglio Vicini’s Italy squad. At the age of 25 his moment had arrived.

“I got the last place in the squad so I didn’t expect to be on the bench, I thought I’d be watching in the stands,” Schillaci said in 2014. When Vicini instructed him to prepare to come on against Austria, his first reaction was: “Do you mean me?”

By the time he scored his final goal of Italia 90, a penalty that secured a 2-1 victory against England, televised replays of Schillaci’s goals had lit up living rooms across the world.

The Guardian