Rome: Italy’s hero in their successful 1982 World Cup campaign, Paolo Rossi, died aged 64.
The gifted striker’s death comes even as the football world is mourning Argentinian soccer icon Diego Maradona.
“Pablito” died of an “incurable disease”, Italian TV channel RAI Sport said on Thursday.
Federica Cappelletti, Rossi’s partner, uploaded a photo of both of them on Instagram captioned: “per sempre”.
The 1982 football World Cup is Spain will remain one of the most memorable for Pablito.
He bagged the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball as player of the tournament in a campaign that is regarded as one of the best individual World Cup performances of all time.
Italians woke up on Thursday to media eulogies for one of the country’s favourite soccer sons.
Rossi was “the one who beat Zico’s Brazil, Maradona’s Argentina, Boniek’s Poland and in the final, the Germany of Rummenigge,” La Gazzetta dello Sport said on its site.