Italian icon Salvatore Schillaci, top scorer at the 1990 World Cup, has died aged 59.
Schillaci, better known as ‘Toto’, scored six goals to win the Golden Boot at the 1990 World Cup on home soil.
The tournament in Italy would be the high point of a career in which Schillaci, known as Totò, earned 16 caps. If Luciano Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma was his soundtrack, the images of Schillaci celebrating his goals with wild eyes will be his most indelible images.
In addition to the Golden Boot, the Sicilian won the Ballon d’Or, which is awarded to the most outstanding player at the World Cup. He finished second in the Ballon d’Or behind the captain of the World Cup-winning German team, Lothar Matthau.
Schillaci died on Wednesday morning in a hospital in Palermo after being admitted following treatment for colon cancer.
He was hospitalized for 11 days before he died, the hospital said in a statement.
