Salvatore Schillaci

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Salvatore Schillaci, known to Italians as Totò, ended the 1990 World Cup ranked above Lothar Matthäus and Diego Maradona as the best player of the tournament. Almost nobody saw that coming. He was a striker from a poor family in Palermo, and he was a newcomer to national team football. Italy was hosting the competition, and the whole country was watching. How did a player with such a modest start end up at the centre of a home World Cup? What had he already achieved before the cameras found him? And why did his career lose its shine so quickly afterwards? This documentary follows Schillaci from a bus company's amateur side in Sicily to the Japanese league, and then to his death in September 2024.

  49134344

• 2. From Palermo to Messina

  ›

  Salvatore Schillaci was born on the 1st of December 1964 in Palermo, into a poor family. His first football came with Amat Palermo, the team of the city's local bus company, which shared the firm's name.

  In 1982 he signed for Messina, a club on the other side of Sicily. He stayed there until 1989. During those years Messina won the Serie C2 title in 1982-83 and the Serie C1 title in 1985-86. Across all competitions, Schillaci scored 68 goals in 237 appearances for the club.

  The season of 1988-89 was his best. He scored 23 league goals in Serie B and won the division's top-scorer award. The next step would take him to Turin.

  3225421

• 3. Turin and Selection

  ›

  On the 27th of August 1989, Schillaci made his Serie A debut for Juventus. The club was nicknamed the Old Lady of Italian football, and it was recovering from the breakup of the great side that had dominated the 1980s under Giovanni Trapattoni.

  Dino Zoff, a former Juventus goalkeeper regarded as a legend there, now led the team. Schillaci arrived just as the club found its form again. He scored 15 league goals and 21 in all competitions that season. Juventus won both the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup in 1989-90.

  Azeglio Vicini, the coach of Italy, noticed. He liked the clever, inventive and aggressive way Schillaci attacked. Vicini picked him for the World Cup that Italy would host, even though Schillaci had little experience at that level. After playing for the Italy under-21 side, Schillaci made his senior debut on the 31st of March 1990. Italy beat Switzerland 1-0 in a friendly in Basel.

  312394022

• 4. The Home Tournament

  ›

  Italy opened the 1990 World Cup against Austria, and Schillaci replaced Andrea Carnevale during the match. He scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on the 9th of June 1990.

  The next game, on the 19th of June, was against Czechoslovakia. Schillaci played alongside Roberto Baggio, and both of them scored in a 2-0 victory.

  From then on, Schillaci and Baggio started together through the knockout rounds. In the round of 16, Schillaci opened the scoring against Uruguay. He also set up a goal for Aldo Serena in that game. In the quarter-final against the Republic of Ireland, on the 30th of June, he opened the scoring again and Italy won 1-0.

  Four goals into the tournament, he now faced the holders, Argentina.

  1415161743

• 5. Naples and Bari

  ›

  Argentina, the defending champions, met Italy in the semi-final on the 3rd of July 1990 at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples. Gianluca Vialli replaced Baggio in the starting line-up, but Schillaci kept his place.

  He scored his fifth goal of the tournament, and the match finished 1-1. Argentina won the penalty shoot-out 4-3. Schillaci refused to take a penalty in the shoot-out, saying he was injured.

  Four days later, on the 7th of July, Italy played England for third place at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari. Schillaci set up the opening goal for Baggio. He then scored the winner from a penalty in a 2-1 victory. That goal gave him six for the tournament and the Golden Boot as its leading scorer.

  More honours followed. He was named to the World Cup All-Star Team, and he finished second to Matthäus in the 1990 Ballon d'Or. He also won the Onze d'Argent that year. In 1991 Italy made him a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

  1841434546

• 6. After the Glow

  ›

  Roberto Baggio remained Schillaci's attacking partner at Juventus for two more years after the World Cup. Yet Schillaci never matched the expectations that 1990 had created, because physical troubles followed him after that campaign.

  His international career was short. He scored seven goals in sixteen appearances for Italy between 1990 and 1991. His only goal outside the World Cup came on the 5th of June 1991 at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo. Italy lost that Euro 1992 qualifier 2-1 to Norway.

  In 1992 he moved to Internazionale, where fans hoped for more, as Juventus supporters had. He scored 12 goals in 36 appearances there, and Inter won the UEFA Cup in 1993-94.

  Then came a surprising move. In 1994 Schillaci joined Júbilo Iwata and became the first Italian to play in Japan's J.League. He scored 65 goals in 93 appearances for the club. The team won the J.League Division 1 title in 1997. Over his whole career he made 498 appearances and scored 181 goals. He retired in 1999, and his next role was back in Palermo.

  310112619

• 7. Right Place, Right Time

  ›

  Francesco Scoglio, who managed Schillaci at Messina, once said he had "never seen a player who wanted to score as much as him."

  Schillaci was small, quick and agile. He had a good technique and an instinct for goal. His anticipation, his reactions and his sense of position let him beat defenders to the ball inside the area. That earned him a reputation for being "in the right place at the right time".

  He could finish with either foot and with his head, even though he did not tower over defenders. He struck volleys and shots from outside the box with power. He was accurate from set pieces, and he was effective from the penalty spot.

  He was known as a selfish and instinctive player, but he could still link up with his team-mates. Passing was not his strength. Years later, a South African international would carry a version of his name.

  91325422

• 8. Palermo, Again

  ›

  Steven Pienaar, a former captain of the South Africa national team, is nicknamed Schillo after Schillaci. Schillaci himself went home to Palermo, where he owned a youth football academy. During UEFA Euro 2012 he appeared as a guest on Craig Doyle Live.

  Football ran in the family. His nephew Francesco Di Mariano and his cousin Antonio Maurizio Schillaci also played professionally. Schillaci married twice and had three children. He considered himself Roman Catholic.

  In 2022 doctors diagnosed him with colon cancer. In September 2024 he was hospitalised with an atrial arrhythmia. He died on the morning of the 18th of September 2024, aged 59.

  Inter Milan led the tributes. The club said that he "made an entire nation dream during the Magic Nights of Italia 90".

  2829273536