Paolo Rossi - WikiHQ

Paolo Rossi (; 23 September 1956 – 9 December 2020) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a striker. He led Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup title, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot as top goalscorer, and the Golden Ball for the player of the tournament. Rossi was also awarded the 1982 Ballon d'Or as the European Footballer of the Year for his performances (remaining the only player in history to win these four awards in a single year). Along with Roberto Baggio and Christian Vieri, he is Italy's top scorer in World Cup history, with nine goals overall.

At club level, Rossi was also a prolific goalscorer for Vicenza. In 1976, he was signed to Juventus from Vicenza in a co-ownership deal for a world record transfer fee. Vicenza retained his services, and he was the top goalscorer in Serie B in 1977, leading his team to promotion to Serie A. The following season, Rossi scored 24 goals, to become the first player to top the scoring charts in Serie B and Serie A in consecutive seasons. Rossi made his debut for Juventus in 1981, and went on to win two Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, and the European Cup. With success at club and international level, he is one of ten players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon d'Or.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest Italian footballers of all time, Rossi was named in 2004 by Pelé as one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration. In the same year, Rossi placed 12th in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. After he retired from football, he worked as a pundit for Sky, Mediaset Premium, and Rai Sport, until his death on 9 December 2020.

Career

Early years

Rossi was born in Prato, Tuscany, Italy in the area of Santa Lucia.

Although he was a member of the squad during the 1972–73 season, Rossi made his debut in professional football with Juventus in 1973, making an appearance in the Coppa Italia and winning a runners-up medal in the 1973 Intercontinental Cup. He was often injury-prone during his first few seasons, only making three Coppa Italia appearances with Juventus between 1972 and 1975, and scoring no goals. After three operations on his knees, he was later sent to gain experience with Como, where he made his Serie A debut during the 1975–76 season, initially playing as a right winger, where his small build would not be a hindrance; he made six Serie A appearances for the club, but again failed to score.

thumb|left|upright=0.68|A young Paolo Rossi with [[Como Calcio|Como in 1975]]

His career reached a turning point when Vicenza Calcio (then Lanerossi Vicenza) engaged him on loan. Coach Giovan Battista Fabbri decided to move him from the wing and place him in the centre of the attack (because of injuries to the then centre-forward) just before the season started. Rossi immediately showed a tremendous knack for getting open in the box and scoring, winning the Serie B Golden Boot with 21 goals in his first year in this more advanced position. In the 1976–77 season, Rossi's qualities as an implacable striker led his team to promotion to Serie A, and he also led Vicenza to the second group stage of the Coppa Italia that season. In the following season, Rossi scored 24 goals, to become the first player to top the scoring charts in Serie B and Serie A in consecutive seasons, also leading Vicenza to a surprising second-place finish in Serie A during the 1977–78 season, only behind his co-owners Juventus. Due to his performances, he was selected by the Italy national team's manager Enzo Bearzot for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Rossi was also given his Italy debut under Bearzot on 21 December 1977, in a 1–0 friendly away win over Belgium.

Rossi confirmed his growth during the 1978 World Cup tournament, gaining international fame as one of the world's best strikers. Playing for Italy as a central striker, he would sometimes switch positions with the two other forward, going to his original right wing position. Right winger Franco Causio, a two-footed player, would go left, and Italy's tall left winger Roberto Bettega would go to the center. This simple stratagem, made possible by the technical quality of all three players, created havoc for opposing defences, and Italy showed an entertaining offensive style of play in the tournament. Rossi totalled three goals and four assists as Italy finished in fourth place in that World Cup. He was named as part of the team of the tournament for his performances, and he also collected the Silver Ball as the second-best player of the World Cup. Rossi's goal in Italy's opening 2–1 group win of the tournament against France, on 2 June 1978, was also his first goal for Italy.

Up to this point, Rossi had been jointly owned by Vicenza and Juventus. When the two clubs were called to settle the property, Lanerossi offered the shocking sum of 2.612 billion lire for Rossi, who became the world's most expensive player, and Italy's most costly sportsman ever at that point. After the 1978 World Cup, during the 1978–79 season, Rossi made his European debut with Vicenza in the UEFA Cup, however, despite scoring 15 goals for the club in Serie A, his season was marked by injuries, and Vicenza was relegated to Serie B. Rossi was subsequently loaned to Perugia, to play in Serie A the following season.

1982 World Cup

Despite his ban, Rossi was repurchased by Juventus in 1981, and he returned to the starting line-up just in time for the end of the 1981–82 season to contribute to the club's 1981–82 Serie A title (scoring one goal in three appearances), and to take part in the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain.

thumb|Rossi scoring the second of his three goals v Brazil at the 1982 World Cup

Italy manager Enzo Bearzot, however, staunchly confirmed Rossi for the decisive round robin in the second round, in which his team was to face Argentina, the reigning World Cup winners, and Brazil, the favourites to win the title with a team consisting of world-class players such as Sócrates, Zico, and Falcão. After Italy defeated Argentina 2–1, partly thanks to the defensive work of Claudio Gentile and Gaetano Scirea who shut down the young Argentine star Diego Maradona, Rossi scored a hat-trick to defeat Brazil 3–2 to qualify for the semi-finals. Between his goals and assists throughout the tournament, Rossi was directly responsible for 58% of his team's goals during the 1982 World Cup.

Rossi became a national hero in Italy for his six goals in the 1982 World Cup finals. Peter Mason, writing for The Guardian, noted that the World Cup final win, which was set up by Rossi's crucial first goal, "was a cathartic moment for the nation, which had been subject to significant social and political unrest for a number of years and, despite being regarded as one of the world's premier footballing nations, had not won a World Cup since 1938... With the victory came an incalculable lift to the nation’s spirits, and Rossi was at the centre of the celebrations." He made his final appearance for Italy on 11 May 1986, in a 2–0 friendly home win over China in Naples. He ended his club career at Hellas Verona during the 1986–87 season, helping them to a fourth-place finish in Serie A, before retiring at the end of the season. He was involved in real estate, together with his former teammate Giancarlo Salvi. Rossi is Italy's joint all-time top goalscorer in the FIFA World Cup, with nine goals in 14 appearances over two editions of the tournament, alongside Roberto Baggio and Christian Vieri. Six of his World Cup goals came in seven appearances during Italy's passage to triumph in 1982, and three of his goals came in seven appearances during the 1978 tournament, when Italy finished in fourth place.

In August 1990, he was named vice-president of Lega Pro Prima Divisione club A.S. Pescina Valle del Giovenco.

Following his retirement he also worked as a pundit for Sky, Mediaset Premium, and Rai Sport.

Rossi died on 9 December 2020, at the age of 64, from lung cancer. Rossi was survived by his second wife, Federica Cappelletti, and three children. During his funeral in Vicenza on 12 December, attended by thousands, his house in Bucine was robbed.

Style of play

Paolo Rossi is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific Italian forwards of all time. He made up for his lack of strength, physicality, and shooting power with his keen sense of opportunism, intelligence, positional sense, and sharp finishing skills with both of his feet as well as with his head. This allowed him to excel in the air and beat out larger opponents for the ball, in spite of his relatively short stature. However, he was not particularly adept at set pieces.

!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals

|rowspan="10"|Italy

|1977||1||0

|1978||10||4

|1979||5||3

|1980||3||0

|1981||0||0

|1982||11||6

|1983||7||2

|1984||6||3

|1985||3||2

|1986||2||0

!colspan="2"|Total||48||20

:Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rossi goal.

European Cup Winners' Cup: 1983–84
UEFA Super Cup: 1984

Italy

Serie B top scorer: 1976–77 (21 goals)
FIFA World Cup Silver Ball: 1978
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1978, 1982
Gazzetta Sports Awards Man of the Year: 1978
Sport Ideal European XI: 1978
FIFA XI: 1979, 1986
FIFA World Cup Golden Boot: 1982
Ballon d'Or: 1982
World Soccer Men's World Player of the Year: 1982
L'Équipe Champion of Champions: 1982
Guerin Sportivo Player of the Year: 1982
Guerin Sportivo All-Star Team: 1982
European Cup top scorer: 1982–83
World Soccer Greatest Players of the 20th century: 41st
FIFA 100
Golden Foot "Football Legends": 2007
Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2016
Enzo Bearzot Award: 2020
Juventus FC Hall of Fame: 2025

References

External links

Official website
Profile at FIGC.it