Highlights:
- Italian football legend Paolo Rossi no more
- Paolo Rossi led Italy to 1982 FIFA World Cup victory
- Rossi also played for Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus
The hero for Italy in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Paolo Rossi, died just 2 months after his 64th birthday after a battle with illness.
On the early hours of Thursday morning, the news of Rossi’s passing was announced by the Italian Television channel RAI Sport, the TV channel who he was working for as a Pundit in the recent times.
The former striker who also played for the Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus led Italy to the victory of 1982 FIFA World Cup which held in Spain and not only won the tournament’s Golden Ball award but also the Golden Boot as he scored 6 goals in the tournament.
Paolo Rossi managed to win their match against Brazil by scoring a hat-trick with the final score of 3-2. In the semi final, he scored 2 goals against Poland and also scored a very crucial opened in the final of the World Cup against West Germany.
The Italian side went on to win the match and the World Cup after defeating West Germany 3-1.
As he won the World Cup title, Golden Boot and the Golden Ball awards, Rossi became the first player to hold all three titles at the same time. This was only repeated by Ronaldo Nazario in the 2002 FIFA World Cup which held in South Korea and Japan.
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After the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Paolo Rossi’s extraordinary features in both international and club football did not go unrecognised and he was awarded the Ballon d’Or that same year.
Between 1977 and 1986, this is Rossi’s international career with Italy, he was awarded 48 caps and scored 20 goals for Italy.
He began his club career at Vicenza and then played for Perugia from where he managed to land himself in Juventus in the year 1981.
Paolo Rossi who is also know was Pablito, also played for another Italian giant AC Milan and finally hanged his shoes after playing for Verona as well as with Como at the beginning – the same team he had made his debut in Serie A with.
He scored 134 goals in the 338 club matches he played and has been regarded as one of the finest strikers of his time.
Rossi won the Seria A title twice and both of them were with Juventus, 1981/82 and 1983/84. With Juventus, he also won the European Cup in 1984/85.
Even when he retired from professional football, Rossi remained close to the game and continued as a Pundit and a columnist.
Enrico Varriale, RAI Sports presenter said, “Such terribly sad news: Paolo Rossi has left us,” as was announcing the passing.
Varriale said, “Unforgettable Pablito, who made all of us fall in love in that summer of 1982 and who was a precious and competent work colleague in RAI over recent years.
“RIP dear Paolo.”
