Paolo Rossi was an Italian professional footballer who played as a forward.
26 Facts About Paolo Rossi
2.
Paolo Rossi led Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup title, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot as top goalscorer, and the Golden Ball for the player of the tournament.
3.
Paolo Rossi was awarded the 1982 Ballon d'Or as the European Footballer of the Year for his performances.
4.
At club level, Paolo Rossi was a prolific goalscorer for Vicenza.
5.
Vicenza retained his services, and he was the top goalscorer in Serie B in 1977, leading his team to promotion to Serie A The following season, Rossi scored 24 goals, to become the first player to top the scoring charts in Serie B and Serie A in consecutive seasons.
6.
Paolo Rossi made his debut for Juventus in 1981, and went on to win two Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, and the European Cup.
7.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest Italian footballers of all time, Paolo Rossi was named in 2004 by Pele as one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration.
8.
Paolo Rossi was born in Prato, Tuscany, Italy in the area of Santa Lucia.
9.
Paolo Rossi was often injury-prone during his first few seasons, only making three Coppa Italia appearances with Juventus between 1972 and 1975, and scoring no goals.
10.
Paolo Rossi's career reached a turning point when Vicenza Calcio engaged him on loan.
11.
Paolo Rossi immediately showed a tremendous knack for getting open in the box and scoring, winning the Serie B Golden Boot with 21 goals in his first year in this more advanced position.
12.
Paolo Rossi confirmed his growth during the 1978 World Cup tournament, gaining international fame as one of the world's best strikers.
13.
Paolo Rossi totalled three goals and four assists as Italy finished in fourth place in that World Cup.
14.
Paolo Rossi was named as part of the team of the tournament for his performances, and he collected the Silver Ball as the second-best player of the World Cup.
15.
Up to this point, Paolo Rossi had been jointly owned by Vicenza and Juventus.
16.
Paolo Rossi became a national hero in Italy for his six goals in the 1982 World Cup finals.
17.
Paolo Rossi helped Juventus to reach the 1983 European Cup final, only to lose out to Hamburg; he finished the tournament as the top scorer, with six goals.
18.
Paolo Rossi was selected in Italy's squad for the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, but did not play in the competition; an injury caused him to struggle during the team's fitness tests, owing to the high altitude of the region.
19.
Paolo Rossi was involved in real estate, together with his former teammate Giancarlo Salvi.
20.
Paolo Rossi scored a total of 20 goals in 48 senior international caps for Italy.
21.
Paolo Rossi is Italy's joint all-time top goalscorer in the FIFA World Cup, with nine goals in 14 appearances over two editions of the tournament, alongside Roberto Baggio and Christian Vieri.
22.
Paolo Rossi represented Italy in the 1991 edition of the World Cup of Masters, scoring in the third place play-off against Uruguay.
23.
Paolo Rossi died on 9 December 2020, at the age of 64, from lung cancer.
24.
Paolo Rossi was survived by his second wife, Federica Cappelletti, and three children.
25.
Paolo Rossi is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific Italian forwards of all time.
26.
Paolo Rossi made up for his lack of strength, physicality, and shooting power with his keen sense of opportunism, intelligence, positional sense, and sharp finishing skills with both of his feet as well as with his head, which allowed him to excel in the air and beat out larger opponents for the ball, in spite of his relatively short stature; he was not particularly adept at set pieces, however.