Foreign minister Antonio Tajani has paid tribute to Italy's 1990 World Cup soccer Icon Cup hero Salvatore Schillaci, who has died aged 59.
"Totò Schillaci, the darling of all the Azzurri fans after the 1990 World Cup, has left us," Tajani wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
"We will always remember him for his goals and his humanity, despite the thousand difficulties that life threw at him. Rest in peace," the tweet added.
Schillaci, a striker better known as 'Toto', scored six goals to win the Golden Boot at the 1990 World Cup on home soil, which gained him hero status.
Capped 16 times for his country, scoring seven goals, Schillaci represented Italian giants Juventus and Inter Milan after beginning his club career at Messina.
"A football icon is leaving us, a man who has entered the hearts of Italians and sports fans around the world," tweeted premier Giorgia Meloni.
Schillaci was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2022.
