Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Salvatore Schillaci | ||
Date of birth | 1 December 1964 | ||
Place of birth | Palermo, Italy | ||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Playing position | Striker | ||
Youth career | |||
1981 | AMAT Palermo | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1982–1989 | Messina | 219 | (61) |
1989–1992 | Juventus | 90 | (26) |
1992–1994 | Internazionale | 30 | (11) |
1994–1997 | Júbilo Iwata | 78 | (56) |
Total | 417 | (154) | |
National team | |||
1989 | Italy U21 | 1 | (0) |
1990–1991 | Italy | 16 | (7) |
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Salvatore Schillaci (Italian pronunciation: [salvaˈtoːre skilˈlaːtʃi]; born 1 December 1964), commonly referred to by his nickname Totò, is a former Italian football player, who played as a striker. During his club career, he played for Messina (1982–1989), Juventus (1989–1992), Internazionale (1992–1994) and Júbilo Iwata (1994–1997).
At international level he was the surprise star of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, as he helped Italy 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 who came second and third. A champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse (see Schillaci) was named after him following his performances at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. That year he also placed second in the 1990 Ballon d'Or, behind Matthäus.
Born in Palermo, Italy, from a poor family, Schillaci started to play for an amateur team of his native city, Amat Palermo. He then signed in 1982 for the Sicilian club Messina, 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 season, with 23 goals. He then joined Turin club Juventus, 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; 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 and the UEFA Cup titles. Due to his clever, inventive, and aggressive attacking style, he was then selected by head coach of Italy, Azeglio Vicini, to play in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted by Italy itself, despite being a novice in the arena of national team competitions.