Paolo Rossi (soccer player)

Paolo Rossi
Paolo Rossi, 2007
Personnel
birthday	September 23, 1956
place of birth	Prato ,  Italy
date of death	December 9, 2020
Place of death	Siena , Italy
size	174 cm
position	Storm
Juniors
Years	station
1972-1973	Juventus Turin
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1973-1976	Juventus Turin	3 0(0)
1975-1976	→  Como Calcio  (loan)	6 0(0)
1976-1980	LR Vicenza	94 (60)
1979-1980	→  Perugia Calcio  (loan)	28 (13)
1981-1985	Juventus Turin	83 (24)
1985-1986	AC Milan	20 0(2)
1986-1987	Hellas Verona	20 0(4)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1976-1988	Italy U-21	10 0(5)
1977-1986	Italy	48 (20)
1 Only league games are given.

Paolo Rossi (born September 23, 1956 in Santa Lucia in Prato , † December 9, 2020 in Siena ) was an Italian football player . At the Soccer World Cup in 1982 he was instrumental in winning his team's title with six goals and was voted player of the tournament.

Career

Paolo Rossi was discovered by Juventus Turin as a teenager . However, he first played in Serie B at AC Como in 1975 to gain experience. In 1976 he moved to another second division club in Vicenza . Here he was discovered by national coach Enzo Bearzot for the Italian national soccer team . He was the top scorer in the second division that season and played a key role in Vicenza's first ascent to Serie A. In the 1977/78 season he scored 24 goals in Serie A, was Capocannoniere and finished second with Lanerossi Vicenza behind Juventus Turin in the league.

Rossi made his World Cup debut at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina . The then 21-year-old wore the national team jersey with the number 21 and scored the equalizer in the first group match against France to make it 1-1. He also scored in the group game against Hungary and scored the 1-0 winner in the second final round against Austria. Italy finished fourth at this World Cup. In the same season he was Italian runner-up with Vicenza and moved to AC Perugia for the following season .

1979 Rossi was involved in the scandal about the postponed league game between AC Perugia and US Avellino on December 30, 1979 (final score 2: 2) and was suspended by the Italian association for three years. The sentence was later reduced to two years and Rossi was eligible to play again from April 1982. Despite a lack of match practice, he was nominated for the World Cup by the then national coach Enzo Bearzot , a decision that met with criticism before the tournament began.

After a weak World Cup preliminary round, in which Italy drew three times and Rossi did not score, Rossi scored all three goals for Italy's 3-2 victory in the second game of the second final round against the high World Cup favorites Brazil . Italy then defeated Poland 2-0 in the semi-finals, Rossi scoring both goals.

In the final against Germany , Rossi scored the goal to make it 1-0. In the end, Italy won their third world title 3-1 and Rossi became the top scorer and best player of the tournament with six goals . He was also voted Europe's Footballer of the Year that same year .

After the suspension, Rossi returned to Juventus Turin in 1982. Then he had his greatest club successes. Together with Michel Platini and Zbigniew Boniek , he formed the highest-scoring attack in the Italian league and won the Italian Cup in 1983. In the same year he lost the final of the European Champions Cup with 1-0 to Hamburger SV. In 1984 he won his first Italian championship and the European Cup Winners' Cup . In 1985 he was in the victorious eleven in the final of the European Cup of National Champions in Brussels , which ended in a catastrophe with 39 dead, as hooligans from Liverpoolcaused a mass panic. In the following season 1985/1986 Rossi moved to AC Milan , but could no longer build on the successes he had achieved in Turin. Enzo Bearzot nevertheless nominated him for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico . Rossi was not used in this tournament. His time at AC Milan was marked by injuries, as was his time at Hellas Verona in the 1986/87 season. He then ended his career in 1987 and retired into private life. Rossi was only missing the UEFA Cup and the European Championship. He scored 20 goals in 48 international matches for Italy and 82 goals in 215 first division games.

Most recently he ran a football school near Perugia .

Rossi died in a hospital in Siena in December 2020 at the age of 64 .

successes

Rossi in the jersey of LR Vicenza

As a national player

• World Champion : 1982

With his clubs

• Italian cup winner : 1982/83
• Italian champion : 1983/84
• European Cup Winners' Cup : 1983/84
• European Super Cup winner : 1984
• European Champion Clubs' Cup : 1984/85

Individual successes / honors

• World Cup top scorer : 1982
• Top scorer (Capocannoniere) of Serie A (24 hits): 1977/78
• World Cup Golden Ball : 1982
• Italy's Sportsman of the Year ( La Gazzetta dello Sport ): 1978
• European Footballer of the Year : 1982
• World Soccer Player of the Year: 1982
• World Sportsman of the Year ( L'Équipe ): 1982
• Inclusion in FIFA 100 : 2004

Web links

Commons : Paolo Rossi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Paolo Rossi in the database of weltfussball.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Davide Petrizzelli: Morto di cancro Paolo Rossi, i tifosi della Juve Piangono il centravanti eroe dei mondiali '82. In: torinotoday.it. December 10, 2020, accessed December 11, 2020 (Italian). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Paolo Rossi turns 60: scandal kicker, World Cup hero, legend
3. ↑ Obituary on sueddeutsche.de, accessed on December 10, 2020
4. ↑ http://www.weltfussball.de/torschuetzenkoenige/wm/
5. ↑ http://www.weltfussball.de/torjaeger/wm-1982-in-spanien/