By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
Italian 1982 World Cup hero, Paolo Rossi, has died at 64 years.
The footballer’s broadcast partner with Rai Sport, Enrico Varriale, disclosed this in a tweet.
He tweeted, “A very sad news: Paolo Rossi left us.
“Unforgettable Pablito, who made us all fall in love in that summer of ‘82 and who has been a precious and competent workmate at RAI in recent years. RIP dear Paolo.”
Rossi’s wife posted a tribute to her husband as well.
Rossi’s legacy was cemented in 1982 at Spain, where he scored six goals to win the Azzurri’s third World Cup title. That included a hat-trick to eliminate Brazil, the tournament favorite, in one of the greatest games in Italian history.
Rossi later followed that up with two goals against Poland in the semifinal and a goal against West Germany in the final.
The footballer remains one of only three players in the history of the tournament to win a World Cup title, the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball at the same event, not to mention the Ballon d’Or he also received that year.
In his club career, Rossi starred at L.R. Vicenza in the 70s, then moved to Juventus, winning two Serie A titles and the 1985 European Cup.
In total, he retired with 103 goals in 251 appearances in the Italian leagues, according to Yahoosport.
Rossi is the second World Cup legend to die in as many months, as Diego Maradona, who made his World Cup debut for Argentina in 1982, died of a heart attack in November.