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The Italian idol, executioner of the Brazilian team in 1982 and world champion of that tournament, died at the age of 64.
Eternally marked in football history by the performance presented in the 1982 World Cup conquest by the Italian national team, Paolo Rossi passed away on December 9, 2020. The former player was 64 years old and suffered from lung cancer. Rossi is one of the many emblematic figures of football, in addition to Maradona, who leaves us this year.
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It is difficult to say categorically if Paolo Rossi is the greatest executioner in the history of the Brazilian team at the World Cups. There is the memory of Zidane, his two goals in the 1998 final and the memorable display in the 2006 quarterfinals, and the iconic figure of Alcides Ghiggia and the goal scored inside the Maracana in 1950, which gave Uruguay the world title. . The certainty is that Rossi is one of the great candidates, thanks to his performance in the historic “Tragédia do Sarriá”, when his Italy beat a Brazil 3-2 that enchanted the world at the 1982 World Cup.
Another certainty is that, if we consider the person who scored the most goals for Brazil in a World Cup match as the “greatest executioner”, then Paolo Rossi does not see anyone match him. Not even in the 7 to 1, in 2014, a player scored three times in a duel against the Canarian jersey. Only Paulo Rossi, in the traumatic match played in Catalonia.
The affectionate relationship that Paolo Rossi established with the Brazilians from that 1982 on is also true. Despite having been an executioner, he was always well treated on his visits to Brazilian lands and spared no praise for Brazil to win for him and his Italian companions .
Rossi began his career at Juventus but spent a period working for smaller teams before coming to the attention of the mainstream media for the first time. When he defended Perugia, his goals were overshadowed by his involvement in the match-fixing scandal dubbed Totonero. This unhappy episode earned him a three-year punishment without being able to play ball. The sentence was reduced to two years, which ended up being decisive in his call to the 1982 World Cup.
At the end of his career, he wore the shirts of Hellas Verona and Milan, but his great passion was Juventus, the club that revealed him and where Rossi spent most of his time. With the Old Lady he won six trophies: two Italian Championships, a Coppa Italia, a European Cup and the European Super Cup. The greatest glory was the European Cup, the current Champions League, in 1985, when he was one of the main names of the team that also featured Michel Platini and Gaetano Scirea.
What made him immortal, however, was the 1982 World Cup. And the unforgettable performance against one of the best Brazilian teams of all time.
