[Football] Toto Schillaci RIP

[Kosh]

That Italian team was so iconic… I wanted them to win, I was 9 and Toto and the boys were just brilliant… I was gutted when they went out…

Pretending to be Baggio was my thing…

It’s reminded of how great football can be or was… or am I just getting old

 

[Easy 10]

Those wild eyes of his, totally iconic. A short life, but one in which he burned brightly in front of the world.

RIP Toto.

 

[Han Solo]

Sad to hear about it.
Lots of ex-Juve players from the 90s aren't well and will pass away early, like Vialli and Schillaci. Those old Juve doctors did some Mengele bullshit. Ex-Juve players still don't know exactly what was injected into them on a very regular basis.

 

[marlowe]

Sad to hear about it.
Lots of ex-Juve players from the 90s aren't well and will pass away early, like Vialli and Schillaci. Those old Juve doctors did some Mengele bullshit. Ex-Juve players still don't know exactly what was injected into them on a very regular basis.

Is this what you're referring to....

The drug scandal that blackens the name of Juve's team of the Nineties

Club doctor sentenced to jail as doping controversy intensifies

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Brovion]

Italia 90 really was an oddity. Football wise it was one of the most turgid competitions in history, I think it still holds the record for the lowest average goals scored across all World Cups - a lot of rules were changed after, most notably the back pass rule to keepers. Other than West Germany, all other teams flattered to deceive: the Italians were heavily weighed down with expectation; the 1988 Euro winners, Holland, were out of sorts and too busy arguing with each other; Brazil's magnificent 1980s team had been dismantled and replaced by possibly the worst squad in their history; Argentina had a team of Maradona and 10 cloggers who kicked their way to the final; England had finished bottom of their Euro 88 group without a point and Robson had decided prior to the tournament he had had enough - expectations were low and continued downwards after their first match with Ireland which was a dire game (I think one Italian newspaper headline for that was 'No Football Please We're British")

Yet despite all this Italia 90 was possibly the most dramatic and interesting tournament in my lifetime, from the moment that Cameroon defender's crunching tackle launched Claudio Caniggia into space, during the opening game. Schillaci was one of them, suddenly becoming the saviour of the Italy team in virtually every match they played. Many matches seemed to have something going on: goalkeepers who dribbled halfway up the pitch; obscure Central American countries beating hapless Scots; other top players who had flashes of brilliance in one game, then disappeared in the next (Dragan Stojkovic v Spain); Geriatric African forwards lured out of retirement to terrorise defences and dance round corner flags; Germany v Holland spitting competition; Carlos Valderrama's hair.

Add to the mix, the only England World Cup song to ever bother with (I still have my T-Shirt somewhere) - still trying to work out which blazer at the FA green lighted this - I'm assuming after the previous abomination involving Stock Aitken and Waterman, they devolved it to the work experience kid. Barnes rapping, drug references and cheeky Carry On innuendo equals the finest 4 minutes of music about football you will ever come across.


Add to that was the BBC got it completely right with their theme - it was particularly effective when playing out on the end credits over pictures of dramatic moments from the match. Pavarotti's version is the only one to bother with.


I think these songs were at one point numbers 1 and 2 in the UK chart during the tournament.

In summary - terrible football, cracking drama

Brilliant post, saved me some typing! Yes, it's one of my favourite world cups despite the fact that as you say most of the football was pretty turgid.

I think it's the overall vibe about it, which outweighed the actual football. (A bit like a good away trip when the Albion lose but the socialising is great). I remember my daughter (who was nearly 3) used to run around the garden shouting "Schillaci!" with her arms outstretched and staring eyes. That still makes me smile, she just picked it up from the TV.

And yes the music was great. It was probably when I started to take a real interest in opera as opposed to just liking a few arias.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Sad to hear about it.
Lots of ex-Juve players from the 90s aren't well and will pass away early, like Vialli and Schillaci. Those old Juve doctors did some Mengele bullshit. Ex-Juve players still don't know exactly what was injected into them on a very regular basis.

He was so amazing in that world cup, then disappeared. Only 16 caps, all in 90-91.

His eyes back then are suggestive of something now routinely detected in the blood, albeit not in 1990.