PHOTO
Italian forward Salvatore Schillaci exults after scoring his team's first goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between Italy and Argentina 03 July 1990 in Naples. Argentina and Italy played to a 1-1 tie but Argentina advanced to the finals with a 4-3 victory on penalty kicks dashing the hopes of Italian fans of a World Cup victory by their team on home soil. / AFP PHOTO / DANIEL GARCIA (Photo credit should read DANIEL GARCIA/AFP/Getty Images)
Salvatore ‘Totò’ Schillaci is 56 today. He was a key figure in the Azzurri’s campaign in the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
Born in Palermo on 1 December 1964, Schillaci started his playing career with AMAT Palermo, before joining Messina - in Serie C2 - in 1982.
After seven years with the club in the south-east of Sicily, with whom he reached Serie B, he made the switch to Juventus in 1989 after ending the previous season as the leading goalscorer in the second division.
In his first season with the Bianconeri (also his first-ever in Serie A and European football), he scored 21 goals in 50 games in all competitions. After winning the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia with Juve, he moved to Inter where he would remain for two seasons, winning another UEFA Cup.
He ended his playing career in Japan with Júbilo Iwata, with whom he won a national championship in 1997 - the last trophy in his career.
In international football, after only playing once in the Under-21 side, he made his Azzurri debut in the opening game of Italia 90 against Austria. Schillaci scored his first Italy goal just moments after coming on. He ended the tournament with six goals, which, alongside a third-place finish, brought him two causes for personal triumph: the Ballon d’Or and the tournament’s Golden Boot.