Totò Schillaci dead: the causes of the death of the former footballer. The disease

Totò Schillaci dead: the causes of the death of the former footballer. The disease

Totò Schillaci died this morning, September 18, 2024. He was 59 years old. But what were the causes of death and the illness of Totò Schillaci? The death occurred in the pneumology department of the Civico hospital in Palermo where the hero of the “magical nights” had been hospitalized for a few days due to colon cancer. Schillaci’s conditions had improved as the day went by until the sudden worsening that occurred yesterday, Tuesday, September 17. Colon cancer is one of the most aggressive and unfortunately often leaves no escape.

The former bomber had undergone two operations in recent years for colorectal cancer, which was diagnosed in early 2022. A tumor that is the second most common type of cancer in Italy with 50,500 new diagnoses in 2023, and which the former champion thought he had defeated, but which instead could have produced a series of complications in other organs as well.

Who was he?

Salvatore Schillaci, known as Totò, was born in Palermo on 1 December 1964. Raised in the working-class neighbourhood of San Giovanni Apostolo, he began playing in the youth teams of AMAT Palermo, a neighbourhood team that represented the Palermo municipal company of the same name.

Hired by Messina, who were then playing in Serie C2, Schillaci contributed with his goals to the promotion of the Sicilian team to Serie B. A striker with a great eye for goal, in 1998-1999, again with Messina, he scored 23 goals and thus became the top scorer in Serie B. The following year he was hired by Juventus for 6 billion lire: in his first season in black and white he scored 15 goals in 30 league games, making a decisive contribution to the Turin club’s double in the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup.

His excellent season convinced the then Italian coach, Azeglio Vicini, to call him up for the 1990 World Cup. During the World Cup, which was held in Italy, Totò Schillaci became the absolute protagonist of the competition, scoring 6 goals and becoming the top scorer of the competition. Unfortunately, the striker’s goals were not enough for Italy to reach the final, stopping in the semi-final, defeated by Maradona’s Argentina. After the World Cup, the bomber played two more seasons with the Juventus jersey but with performances below expectations.

He moved to Inter for 8.5 billion lire, with the Nerazzurri, in two seasons, he scored 11 goals in 30 games. In April 1994 he landed in Japan, in the ranks of Júbilo Iwata, becoming the first Italian footballer to play in Japan. In total, with the Japanese team, he scored 56 goals in 78 games. Totò Schillaci married twice, first with Rita and then with Barbara Lombardowith which he participated in the tenth edition of Beijing Express. In addition to his wife Barbara, he leaves behind three children.