Legend who took 3 games to go from damnation to resurrection
How terribly sad. A wonderful striker and a lovely man. Scored a World Cup hattrick in one of the greatest games of all time against Brazil. A true finisher’s life has finished way too soon.
GARY LINEKAR, former
England captain
Dear Pablito, we always remember you!
JUERGEN KLINSMANN,
Germany’s former World Cup winner on Twitter
Bye bye Paolo— players should never depart before coaches.
GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI,
former Italy coach
Paolo Rossi, who died on Thursday aged 64, journeyed from damnation to resurrection in three games of the 1982 World Cup. His hattrick eliminated an imperious Brazil team, two goals in the semi-final knocked out Poland and the opening strike in the final against West Germany sent Italy on way to the title, their first since 1938. From a tournament he almost missed due to a match-fixing scandal, Rossi emerged world champion, winner of the Golden Boot and Golden Ball and won the Ballon D’Or that year.
Rossi’s wife Federica Cappelletti announced the death in an Instagram post featuring a photo of the couple, accompanied by the comment “Forever,” followed by a heart. “There will never be anyone like you, unique, special, after you the absolute nothing...,” she added on Facebook. The cause of Rossi’s death was not revealed but Italian media reported he had been suffering from “an uncurable disease”.
Rossi scored 20 goals in 48 games for Italy, including three in the 1978 World Cup. Along with Christian Vieri and Roberto Baggio, he holds the Italian record for nine goals scored in the World Cup where he was also a part in 1986 but did not play.
He also scored over 100 Serie A goals with Italian clubs including Juventus, Milan and Verona.
But it was the six in the 1982 World Cup that defined his career. When Italy, looking uninspired till then, faced a must-win second round game against Brazil, Rossi hadn’t scored in four games and had been described by an Italian journalist as “an ectoplasm of himself.”
But that day in Barcelona Rossi rose above a Brazil midfield fizzing with talent in Zico, Socrates and Falcao. One of the smallest on the pitch, Rossi, who had been converted to centre-forward from a sprightly winger, put Italy ahead in the fifth minute with a header. From Zico’s pass, Socrates made it 1-1 but Rossi scored again in the 25th minute, this time opportunistically snatching on to a poor pass from Toninho Cerezo. Brazil equalised through Falcao but in the 74th minute Rossi completed his hat-trick with a shot from a cornerkick that again highlighted his ability to score after ghosting into the penalty area.
Following the 3-2 win, Rossi struck against Poland in the semi-final first with his right heel and then with a header. In the final, Rossi scored in the 57th minute with another header. “That goal, more than any other goal I’ve ever scored, completely defined my characteristics,” Rossi told a FIFA documentary in 2018. “It was mine because I stole that precious tenth of a second from the defender and I knew he would never reach me.”
Goalkeeper Dino Zoff, who captained the 1982 winning side, described Rossi as an “extraordinary footballer, excellent teammate and friend”. “He was irreplaceable in that group. And the relationship with him was great. We were a team of friends, a great group.”
On the World Cup win, Rossi said in 2018: “On one hand I felt fulfilled. I said to myself, ‘you’ve made it’. On the other hand, I was disappointed that all of this just ended. The World Cup was over.”
It was a competition he would have missed. In 1980, Rossi was caught up in match-fixing scandal and was banned for three years. After protesting his innocence, he was cleared to play after two years and was rehired by Juventus, going on to earn his spot in the World Cup squad.
Juventus, where Rossi formed a formidable trio with Michel Platini and Zbigniew Boniek and had his most successful season in 1983-84, said on the club’s website: “‘Pablito’ has passed away: for the entire nation, he was the man of an unforgettable Mundial, and for us, he was so much more.”
Rossi won the European Cup with Juventus in 1985 amid the tragedy of the Heysel Stadium final against Liverpool, where 39 fans were killed.
After retirement in 1987, Rossi worked as a TV pundit. He has three children.