Palermo mourns Schillaci, the funeral: "God called you for the team of Paradise"

Thousands of people packed the forecourt of Palermo Cathedral for a final, emotional farewell to Salvatore "Totò" Schillaci, the man who symbolized the "Magical Nights" of Italia '90. A collective, warm, and affectionate embrace greeted the champion's coffin, draped in the Italian flag, the national team jersey, and the scarves of Messina, Palermo, and Juventus. Chants, applause, and a banner with the words: “Hello Totò, son of Palermo!” they accompanied the great striker's entrance into the church.

During the homily, Monsignor Filippo Sarullo, parish priest of the Cathedral of Palermo, paid a touching tribute to the late champion: “Dear Totò, even if you didn't win your last match against the disease, you triumphed on the field of eternity. You are and always will be our football and human myth”. The priest evoked the figure of Schillaci as a hero of life, underlining the dignity and generosity with which he faced the disease. “You played the first half of your life and, in the second, with the final whistle of death, you made the most beautiful passage of your existence, towards eternal life”, concluded Sarullo, with words that moved those present.

Many personalities from the world of sports and politics were also present at the funeral. From the mayor of Palermo, Roberto Lagalla, to the president of the FIGC, Gabriele Gravina, to the president of Palermo Dario Mirri and the former federal president Antonio Matarrese. Among the Azzurri teammates, Beppe Bergomi and Giuseppe Giannini, together with the Palermo players, Matteo Brunori, Francesco Di Mariano (Schillaci's nephew) and Jacopo Segre. The sports director Morgan De Sanctis and his deputy Giulio Migliaccio also wanted to pay homage to the icon of Italian football.

The exit of the coffin was accompanied by a very long applause, a sign of the immense affection that the city and the entire country had for him. Schillaci. “Italian football gathers around Totò’s family and the city of Palermo”, declared the president of the FIGC, Gravina. “Schillaci will always remain an Azzurri legend, and we will also remember him on the occasion of the next national team match in Rome, in the stadium that made him a hero of the 'Magic Nights'”.