At the international level, Schillaci was the surprise star of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, as he helped Italy to a third-place finish on home soil. Coming on as substitute in Italy's first game, Schillaci went on to score six goals throughout the World Cup, claiming the Golden Boot as the leading goalscorer,<ref name="FWC Golden Boot"/> and received the Golden Ball as player of the tournament<ref name="FWC Golden Ball"/> ahead of Lothar Matthäus and Diego Maradona, who placed second and third respectively.<ref>Salvatore Schillaci StatisticsFIFA. Retrieved 25 January 2010.</ref> That year he also placed second in the 1990 Ballon d'Or, behind Matthäus.<ref name=cinquantamila.corriere.it/>
Born on 1 December 1964 in Palermo, Italy,<ref name="FBref">Template:Cite web</ref> from a poor family, Schillaci started to play for an amateur team of his native city, Amat Palermo, the football team of the local bus company bearing the same name.<ref name="Clemente">Clemente Angelo Lisi (2011). "A History of the World Cup, 1930–2010". p. 220. Scarecrow Press, 2011.</ref> He then signed in 1982 for the Sicilian club Messina, where he played until 1989 and showed his goal-scoring abilities, most notably winning the Serie B top-scorer award during the 1988–89 Serie B season, with 23 goals. He then joined Turin club Juventus, and made his debut in Serie A on 27 August 1989.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Juventus, the "Old Lady" of Italian football, was at the time suffering from the breakup of the wonder team which dominated Italian football in the 1980s, under manager Giovanni Trapattoni; Schillaci's arrival coincided with a return to form under the direction of former legendary Juventus goalkeeper Dino Zoff. He featured prominently for the Turinese club that season, scoring 15 league goals and 21 in all competitions in a very positive year, which ended with Juventus winning both the 1989–90 Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup titles. Due to his clever, inventive, and aggressive attacking style, he was then selected by head coach of Italy, Azeglio Vicini, to play in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted by Italy itself, despite being a novice in the arena of national team competitions.<ref name=tuttojuve.com/><ref name=cinquantamila.corriere.it/><ref name="Clemente"/>
After the end of the 1990 World Cup, Schillaci played two more years for Juventus, alongside his Italy attacking team-mate Roberto Baggio, before joining Internazionale.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Schillaci ultimately fell short of the expectations of the Inter fans, as well as those of Juventus, mainly because of the physical troubles which he suffered after the 1990 campaign. In 1994, he joined Japanese club Júbilo Iwata, becoming the first Italian player to play in the J.League, and he won the J.League Division 1 title with the club in 1997.<ref name=tuttojuve.com/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He retired in 1999.<ref name="Clemente"/>
International career
Having represented Italy U21, on 31 March 1990, Schillaci made his senior international debut for Italy under manager Azeglio Vicini in a 1–0 friendly away victory over Switzerland, in Basel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was subsequently called up for Italy's squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup that was played on home soil.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
For the semi-final match against defending champions Argentina, Gianluca Vialli replaced Baggio in the starting line-up, whereas Schillaci kept his place in the team. The match ended 1–1, with Schillaci scoring his fifth goal of the tournament, but Italy were eliminated after a penalty shoot-out, in which he refused to take a penalty, citing injury as his reason.<ref name="Clemente"/>
After setting up Baggio's opening goal, Schillaci scored the winning goal in Italy's 2–1 win in the third-place match against England from a penalty,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and won the Golden Boot,<ref name="FWC Golden Boot"/> with six goals, as well as the Golden Ball Award for the best player of the tournament.<ref name="FWC Golden Ball"/> Overall, he scored seven goals in sixteen caps for Italy between 1990 and 1991, scoring his only other goal for Italy in a 2–1 defeat away against Norway, in 1991, in a UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying match.<ref name="FIGC – Nazionale in cifre: Schilacci, Salvatore">Template:Cite web</ref>
Style of play
Schillaci was a small, quick, agile, and mobile striker, with an eye for the goal, and solid technique. A prolific, reliable, and opportunistic goalscorer, Schillaci was known in particular for his anticipation, reactions, and his excellent positional sense, which, along with his acceleration, enabled him to make attacking runs to beat opponents to the ball in the area, giving him the reputation for frequently being "in the right place at the right time".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was capable of finishing well both inside and outside the area, as well as from volleys, with powerful strikes, and was capable of scoring with his head as well as with his feet, despite not being particularly imposing in the air; he was also accurate on set pieces and effective on penalties. Although he was primarily known for his selfish and instinctive style of play, he was also capable of linking-up with and playing off of his team-mates, despite not being a particularly notable passer. Due to his goalscoring exploits, his former Messina manager Francesco Scoglio described him by saying he had "never seen a player who wanted to score as much as him."<ref name=tuttojuve.com/><ref name=cinquantamila.corriere.it/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="pagelle">Template:Cite web</ref>
Retirement
Schillaci retired in 1999. He returned to his native Palermo, where he owned a youth academy of football.<ref name="Clemente"/>
}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}
