Thousands Turn up at Funeral of Italian World Cup Hero Salvatore Totò Schillaci

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Italian World Cup hero Salvatore Toto' Schillaci, during his funeral ceremony at the Palermo cathedral, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP)
Pallbearers carry the coffin of Italian World Cup hero Salvatore Toto' Schillaci, during his funeral ceremony at the Palermo cathedral, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP)
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Thousands Turn up at Funeral of Italian World Cup Hero Salvatore Totò Schillaci

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Italian World Cup hero Salvatore Toto' Schillaci, during his funeral ceremony at the Palermo cathedral, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP)
Pallbearers carry the coffin of Italian World Cup hero Salvatore Toto' Schillaci, during his funeral ceremony at the Palermo cathedral, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP)

Thousands of people turned up for the funeral of Italian World Cup hero Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci on Friday.

Schillaci died on Wednesday at the age of 59 following a battle with colon cancer. The Italy striker was top scorer at the 1990 World Cup that his country hosted and epitomized a player exceeding expectations on soccer’s biggest stage.

The funeral took place at the main cathedral in Palermo. Schillaci never played for the Sicilian team but he was born and raised in the city, where he also set up a soccer youth academy after moving back when he retired.

Schillaci’s coffin was decorated with an Italy jersey and a Palermo one, as well as with scarves of the various teams he played for — Messina, Juventus and Inter Milan. He ended his career at Japanese team Jubilo Iwata, retiring in 1999, according to The AP.

Schillaci had never scored for Italy before the 1990 World Cup, having previously only played once for the national team. Overall, he made 16 appearances for Italy and scored seven goals — six of them at the World Cup, where the Azzurri finished third.

He also won the Golden Ball award in 1990 as the tournament’s top player ahead of Lothar Matthaus and Diego Maradona.

There was space for around a thousand people in the cathedral and thousands more packed the square outside. They chanted Schillaci’s name and applauded when the hearse arrived and again when the coffin was brought back out after the funeral service.

Thousands had also passed through the public viewing of Schillaci at Palermo’s Renzo Barbera stadium in the days ahead of the funeral.

Schillaci’s two brothers were among the pallbearers, along with nephew Francesco Di Mariano, who plays for Palermo and passed through his uncle’s soccer academy.

Many former teammates were in attendance, including Giuseppe Bergomi, who played with Schillaci for Inter and Italy and was also Azzurri captain at the 1990 World Cup. Among the other figures from the world of soccer were Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina and Antonio Matarrese, who occupied the post in 1990.

There was a collection at the service, with the funds going towards the renovation of an area that includes two soccer pitches, one of which will be named after Schillaci.

A wreath of flowers from world soccer’s governing body FIFA was laid at the entrance to the cathedral. It bore the words “to the hero of Italia 90.”



Man United Needs Near Perfect End to Season to Avoid its Worst Premier League Points Total


Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)
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Man United Needs Near Perfect End to Season to Avoid its Worst Premier League Points Total


Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)

Manchester United needs to win seven of its eight remaining Premier League games this season just to match its worst-ever points total in the modern era.

That's how bad it's got for the record 20-time English champion in a crisis-hit campaign.

“We have to get it right fast,” head coach Ruben Amorim said after Tuesday's 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

United’s lowest points total since the Premier League began in 1992 was 58 in the 2021-22 season. It is currently on 37, with 24 more points to play for, The AP news reported.

Seven wins would give Amorim’s team the 21 points needed to reach 58.

To put that in context, United has not won back-to-back games in the league all season. The last time it managed that was in the final two games of the previous campaign.

Amorim, meanwhile, has only won six and lost nine of his 19 league games since taking over in November. United has won 10 in total.

New lows The loss to Forest was United's 13th in the league this term. Last year's total of 14 defeats was the club's worst in the Premier League era.

Amorim said in January that this might be the worst team in United's history and things have only got worse since then.

While there is little danger this season of one of the world's most storied teams being relegated from the top flight for the first time since 1974, it will almost certainly hit new lows in the modern era.

United's lowest league position in the Premier League was the eighth-place finish overseen by former manager Erik ten Hag last year. It seems unlikely Amorim will be able to better that, with his team eight points below eighth-place Fulham.

Based on form, the likelier scenario is United finishes the season even lower than it already is, with Tottenham, Everton and West Ham all within touching distance.

Years of decline This season continues United's onfield decline since managerial great Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after winning the club's last league title.

It was his and United's 13th championship of the first 20 years of the Premier League. The club hasn't won another since.

Its lowest finish in the Premier League under Ferguson was third.

Goal drought Among United's many problems this season have been a lack of goals. The Forest game was the 11th time it has failed to score in the league - prompting a desperate Amorim to play center back Harry Maguire in attack as he went in search of a late equalizer.

Maguire came closer than any of his teammates to scoring when seeing a stoppage time effort cleared off the line.

“We deserved more in this game, that is clear, but it was our fault. We need to be better in the last third," Amorim said.

Rasmus Hojlund, a striker signed from Atalanta for $82 million last season, has only scored eight goals in his 41 games in all competitions this term.

Strike partner Joshua Zirkzee has scored six in 45 appearances. United has scored 37 in the league all season with a goal difference of minus-4.

Amorim, however, insists he sees improvement.

“I don’t lie to myself," he said. "Everybody can say whatever they want to say, I see some things, but we need to win games.”