The news that the entire football world feared, unfortunately has arrived. Salvatore Schillaci, known to all as Totò, died this morning.. The former footballer passed away at the civic hospital in Palermo where he was hospitalized. The conditions of the 59-year-old symbol of the infamous “Magical nights” of Italia ’90, had worsened over the last few hours and already yesterday evening there was talk of a “significant worsening”. Schillaci had been hospitalized in the pneumology department of the Civico hospital in the Sicilian capital since last September 7. The former Azzurri striker had been fighting against cancer for some time. He was born in Palermo on December 1, 1964 and was married twice, to Rita and Barbara: he leaves behind three children, Jessica, Mattia and Nicole.
Many messages from the world of football and beyond. Among these, also the thoughts of the FIFA president Gianni Infantino: “The magical nights of Italia ’90. Eyes wide open after goals. Running with arms raised. A leap through a career, from Palermo to eternity. Dear Totò Schillaci, you were a great king who came from the people, a person who remained simple despite his greatness. Open your eyes again, wherever you are. Run. In the meantime, we whistle the anthem of that FIFA World Cup: Notti Magiche, precisely. That dream that begins as a child/and that takes you further and further/is not a fairy tale and from the locker rooms/the boys come out/and we are. It wasn’t a fairy tale, it was your story. They didn’t know it yet, but they had written it for you”.