WHEN we hear the name Rossi, of course immediately reminded of the figure of the Italian MotoGP racer, Valentino Rossi. In fact, before Valentino Rossi dominated the Grand Prix event in the mid-2000s, there was another Rossi name that was no less great than The Doctor – the nickname Valentino Rossi.
The figure of Rossi in question is Paolo Rossi, a 64-year-old man who died on Thursday 10 December 2020 morning WIB. So, who is the figure of Paolo Rossi?
(Paolo Rossi’s body was about to be buried at the last resting place)
Paolo Rossi is a former flagship bomber of Vicenza, Juventus and the National Team (Italian national team). The name Paolo Rossi climbed when the 177-centimeter-tall man came out as the top scorer of the Italian League 1977-1978 while defending Vicenza.
At that time, from 30 matches, Paolo Rossi collected 24 goals in the Italian League 1977-1978. Unfortunately, slowly Paolo Rossi’s sharpness decreased. In the Italian League 1978-1979 he only collected 15 goals with Vicenza.
One season later while defending Perugia, Paolo Rossi scored 13 goals. It turns out that behind his sharpness, Paolo Rossi was involved in a scoring case, as happened in Italy in 2004-2006 (Calciopoli).
At that time, the scoring scandal was called Totonero. There are at least seven clubs in Serie A and Serie B involved in fixing the score. For individuals, the most prominent was Paolo Rossi, who at that time strengthened Perugia.
(Paolo Rossi (right) with Michel Platini)
As a result of his behavior, Paolo Rossi was banned from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) from engaging in world football for three years. However, upon appeal, Paolo Rossi’s sentence was cut to two years.
The punishment made Paolo Rossi miss the 1980-1981 season and almost missed the 1981-1982 season in full. At that time, Paolo Rossi was only able to play at the end of the 1981-1982 season, to be precise in the last three matches of the Italian League.
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In the last three matches, Paolo Rossi appeared as a starter and scored one goal, to be precise when Juventus won 5-1 over Udinese. For your information, Paolo Rossi was carried off by Juventus in the summer of 1981, or while he was serving suspension.
The miracle was also obtained by Paolo Rossi. Even though he only played three times during the 1981-1982 season, the Italian national team coach at that time, Enzo Bearzot, included Paolo Rossi to appear at the 1982 World Cup held in Spain.
(Paolo Rossi helped Italy win the 1982 World Cup)
“If I don’t bring Rossi, I don’t have a player capable of causing trouble in the opposing area,” said Enzo Bearzot.
The trust given by Enzo Bearzot was completely paid for by Paolo Rossi. Had been barren in the first four games, Paolo Rossi went crazy in the last three games.
He scored a hat trick during Italy’s 3-2 win over Brazil in the second group phase. Then, Paolo Rossi bought up everything The Azzurri – Italian nickname – during the 2-0 win over Poland in the semifinals.
Finally, Paolo Rossi scored one goal in Italy’s 3-1 win over West Germany in the top party. As a result, Paolo Rossi came out as the top scorer in the 1982 World Cup with a collection of six goals. He was also named the best player at the 1982 World Cup.
His success in helping Italy win the World Cup made Paolo Rossi win the 1982 Ballon d’Or trophy. He followed in the footsteps of Omar Sivori (1961) who became the first Juventus footballer to win the Ballon d’Or trophy.
(Paolo Rossi winning the 1962 Ballon d’Or trophy)
In addition, Paolo Rossi also helped Juventus win the 1984-1985 Cup / Champions League trophy, or the first in the history of the club’s founding. At that time in the top party, Juventus won 1-0 over Liverpool. Goodbye Paolo Rossi, your contribution to the development of world football will not be forgotten.
