Liberator of Italy – souvenir of Paolo Rossi

Paolo Rossi was proclaimed world champion, World Cup scorer and Golden Ball in 1982 (Photo: AFP)

A cry of freedom, arms raised, a race in oblivion towards happy nothingness: the unmistakable moment of the joy of Paolo Rossi goal in 1982 was etched in memory as a cult image of football history, Even when the scene survived in various variations.

The characteristic gesture of the bony and disheveled soccer player (and the accompanying “scenery”, the then angry blue shirt of the Italians, the dress collar decorated with tricolor, the flashing dentures, the tensing tendons, the clenched fists) The king of the tournament tripled in the semi-final of the Italian-Brazilian group (3-2), considered one of the greatest football battles of all time, in the semi-finals he almost doubled the Poles alone (2-0), and in the final went ahead with his goal 3 Italian team defeating by -1.

Years later, the Italian soccer hero recalled the intoxicating Madrid night in the following way: “I saw the crowd celebrating, the teammates hugging, and I felt something strangely desperate. Now I should stop time, in this holy moment! It crossed my mind. Because I’m sure I’ll never experience it again, no matter how long I live. “

Paolo Rossi died Wednesday night at the age of 64 after a long and serious illness. Only his closest environment knew that the complaints, which at first seemed like simple back pain, were based on a medical diagnosis of lung cancer. Recently, in a personal video message, her television colleagues encouraged and supported the ever-cheerful and popular soccer celebrity, who had been working as a professional commentator, but perhaps not even they had an accurate knowledge of her real condition. , and the news of her death surprised him. (The football media were also unprepared for the tragedy, and we typically just finished preparing an interview with Paolo Rossi with the help of Italian colleagues.)

Born in the Tuscan city of Prato, he spent the most successful period of his adult club career at Juventus: he became champion of Italy in the colors of the Turin club in 1982 and 1984, winner of the Italian Cup in 1983 , winner of the European Cup and European Super Cup in 1984 at the international level. And in 1985 he won the European Cup. His teammates remember Ross as a soccer player who invades the game in the blink of an eye, exploits his situation mercilessly, and is blessed with visceral punches.

The controversial chapter in his career is the Totonero case of 1980, in which he was found involved in Perugia as a player in the fur scandal that shook Italian football and was suspended for three years; the charge was denied then and later. His sentence was subsequently reduced by one year, thanks to the concession that he could have been one of the leading figures of the Italian World Cup gold medalist team formed under the hands of federal captain Enzo Bearzot and not, incidentally, the ball. 1982 gold.

Paolo Rossi visited Hungary in 2017 (Photo: Attila Török)

However, that summer not only gave Italy a world title and a rediscovered audience favorite – much more than that. As Paolo Rossi grabbed: “The victory was not just for the team, but a decisive experience for millions. We were eighty-two years old, the years of lead overshadowed by terrorist acts had just ended, we were a few years after the kidnapping and assassination of Prime Minister Aldo Moro. The World Cup in Spain eradicated the sadness, the worry, the fear of the people. For Italy, success in football has become a symbol of a new beginning, of optimism ”.

With a released cry, arms raised in the sky, happily running into the unknown future …