2024-09-10 03:01:00
Former Italian international Salvatore “Totó” Schillaci, top scorer at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, is in a serious condition in hospital in Palermo, although his condition is “stable”, according to his family. The former Juventus player has been battling colon cancer for some time.
“Our beloved Totó is stable and is being monitored by a team of doctors continuously day and night,” the former striker’s family wrote on their social networks, after a rumour circulated in the last few hours that the former footballer had died.
Schillaci, 59, winner of two UEFA Cups, one with Juventus and one with Inter, is in the Pulmonology department of the Civic Hospital in the Sicilian capital. The family explained that they made the situation of the player, much loved by the Italian fans, known “in response to the countless calls from many newspapers and the bad news that has been circulating”, which began to appear on Sunday.
According to local media, Totó Schillaci, who has already undergone two operations for colon cancer, is in critical condition, after the disease, which seemed to be overcome a year ago, has reappeared in a very aggressive form.
His national teammate Roberto Baggio, with whom he played in Italy ’90, sent him his best wishes on his social networks: “Forza Totó,” he wrote, in a post along with several photos together celebrating the six goals that the forward scored in the Italian World Cup, including one against the Argentine National Team in the semi-final that ended up being won by the Albiceleste in the penalty shoot-out.