ഇറ്റാലിയന് ഫുട്ബോള് ഇതിഹാസവും 1982 ലെ ബാലണ്ദ്യോര് പുരസ്കാര ജേതാവുമായ പൗലോ റോസി (64) അന്തരിച്ചു. യുവന്റസ്, എസി മിലാന് എന്നിവയ്ക്കായി കളിച്ച റോസി എക്കാലത്തെയും മികച്ച ഫോര്വേഡുകളിലൊന്നായാണ് കണക്കാക്കപ്പെടുന്നത്. യുവന്റസിനായി നാല് വര്ഷക്കാലമാണ് റോസി കളിച്ചത്. 1982 ലോകകപ്പില് ഇറ്റലിക്ക് കിരീടം സമ്മാനിച്ച വീരനായകനാണ് റോസി. ടൂര്ണമെന്റില് ഇറ്റലി ചാമ്പ്യന്മാരായപ്പോള് ഗോള്ഡന് ബൂട്ട്, ഗോള്ഡന് ബോള് പുരസ്കാരങ്ങള് നേടി.
Italian legend Paolo Rossi dies aged 64
Paolo Rossi, whose goal scoring exploits landed Italy the 1982 World Cup, died at the age of 64, his family said in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Daily sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that the 1982 Ballon d’Or winner died of an “incurable illness.”
The news was also announced on Thursday by Italian TV channel RAI Sport, for whom Rossi had been working as a pundit.
“Such terribly sad news: Paolo Rossi has left us,” said RAI Sport presenter Enrico Varriale.
“Unforgettable Pablito, who made all of us fall in love in that summer of 1982 and who was a precious and competent work colleague in RAI over recent years.”
The striker was a crucial part of the team that, at the Spain World Cup, defeated Zico’s Brazil, an Argentina side that featured a young Diego Maradona, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s Germany.
Months on heels of a scandal
He scored six goals in that contest; three against Brazil in a group stage match regarded as one of the best World Cup games ever, two against Poland in the semifinal, and one against Germany in the final that Italy won 3-1.
Italy’s other opponent in the group stages was Argentina who were vanquished 2-1.
Those performances came just two months after the end of a two-year ban for a match-fixing scandal in Italy during the 1979-80 season.
Rossi also enjoyed success at club level with Juventus, where — over four years — he won two Italian Serie A titles, a European Cup and a domestic Coppa Italia.
rc/ab (dpa, Reuters)