The football world has been hit by extremely sad news this Wednesday, with the great Toto Schillaci dead at the age of just 59. Schillaci died overnight, having been admitted to hospital earlier this month.
An icon of Italian football, Schillaci burst onto the scene when his country hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1990. Schillaci was included in the Italian squad with just one cap to his name, not expected to feature much in the plans of manager Azeglio Vicini.
However, the then-Juventus striker would score off the bench in just his second cap for Italy against Austria on the opening day, kick-starting a remarkable run which saw him finish the tournament as top scorer. In total, he scored six goals across Italy’s seven games, helping them to third place.
Schillaci made himself something of a pantomime villain for Irish fans during the tournament. This was of course the tournament of Big Jack’s Ireland team heroically reaching the quarter-finals, where they would be vanquished by Italy’s bolter hero scoring the only goal of the game in Rome.
30 June 1990; Salvatore Schillaci, right, of Italy celebrates after scoring his side’s only and winning goal with team-mate Guiseppe Giannini during the FIFA World Cup 1990 Quarter-Final match between Italy and Republic of Ireland at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Even though he ended the greatest tournament run in Ireland’s history, Schillaci became a well-loved figure in Irish football in the years since the tournament.
His presence in Irish pop culture – even cameoing himself in one of the most iconic adverts in recent Irish history – undid most of the heartbreak of the 1990 World Cup, making him an ironic hero for Irish fans.
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RIP Toto Schillaci: Iconic Italian striker dies at 59
In the months after the 1990 World Cup, Irish author Roddy Doyle released ‘The Van,’ the final novel in the beloved ‘Barrytown Trilogy.’
The novel follows a Dublin chip van owner at the height of football fever during the World Cup and was so popular it would be adapted into the film of the same name in 1996.
Colm Meaney played the lead character and, after the deflation of Ireland’s quarter-final exit, “Bimbo Reeves” dons a t-shirt with a rather pointed message to the scorer of Italy’s winner.
With the film being a comedy, it was of course presented as a tongue-in-cheek moment. As the years went on, the t-shirt became an ironic symbol of Ireland’s golden summer in Italy. In recent weeks, when Schillaci’s hospitalisation was reported in the Italian media, photoshopped versions of the t-shirt reading ‘Get Well Soon Schillaci’ – rather than the less-safe-for-work phrase on the original t-shirt – were shared by Irish fans online, showing their love for the man who had broken Irish hearts 34 years ago.
However, nothing better sums up the strange connection between Toto Schillaci and Ireland than the famous Smithwicks advert from the 2002 World Cup.
With the Irish team travelling to Japan and South Korea for the tournament, football fanaticism was once again at a fever pitch in the country, and Smithwicks sought to get in on the act.
Their effort depicted two Italian tourists trying out the Kilkenny beer in an Irish pub – much to the amusement of two locals, who jokingly introduce themselves as ‘Ray Houghton’ and ‘David O’Leary.’ However, the two Irishmen are left stunned when their new friends bring out the third member of their party – the actual Toto Schillaci.
All the locals can muster in response is a meek, “Good goal…”
Though there was no real ill-will towards Schillaci from Irish fans, the Smithwicks ad was a pivotal moment in cementing his special relationship with the Irish fanbase.
When Ireland and Italy faced off once more in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, a promotional campaign saw Schillaci pictured eating ice cream with Ray Houghton on Grafton Street – firmly summing up how he was now seen by Ireland.
30 March 2009; Former Italian and Republic of Ireland internationals Toto Schillaci and Ray Houghton enjoy an ice cream at the launch of Boylesports’ supporters promotion for Irish fans travelling to Bari for the crunch group 8 game between the Republic of Ireland and the Azzurre. Boylesports, Grafton Street, Dublin. Picture credit: Pat Murphy / SPORTSFILE
That Toto Schillaci was seen so fondly by fans of the country whose hearts he broke in Rome that summer night in 1990 epitomises what a special character he was in the world of football.
His emergence from relative obscurity to becoming a national hero during Italia ’90 remains one of the World Cup’s greatest-ever stories, and his death has left football fans worldwide heartbroken.
Paul McGrath, who started opposite Schillaci’s Italy in the 1990 quarter-final, shared his condolences on Instagram on Wednesday morning.
The Irishman said, “So sad to hear the passing of Italy’s Toto Schillaci, what a player and goal scorer. RIP #respect.”
Sogni d’oro, Toto. May he rest in peace.