Pablito: The Rossi Chronicles

“Per Sempre”, forever we remember the man who carried his nation to glory

6 min readJan 29, 2022

The Paolo Rossi Chronicles, by David Ferrini, Serie A commentator

Paolo Rossi and his brilliant finishing ultimately won the Tuscan a host of individual accolades including a Ballon D’Or, the Serie A Capocannoniere award and a FIFA Golden Boot.

A tale of triumphs and temporary setbacks, his playing career can only be defined as elite. Read on with me today to see how Pablito won Serie A silverware, European titles and the World Cup in the space of just 36 months.

To set the mood, watch as Rossi controls an aerial ball, back to goal, then strikes powerfully on the turn to ram a volley home at the peak of his powers.

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If history could be written via a football boot, Paolo Rossi just might have been the Dante Alighieri of calcio. Best known for the “Divine Comedy”, Dante wrote of a three-stage journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.

An applicable analogy indeed for Paolo, who was punished for his involvement in the Totonero match-fixing scandal of 1980, then suffered a two-year banishment from football before returning to lead his nation to Paradiso.

5th July 1982: A Beautiful Day in Barcelona

Regarded as one of the best performances ever in international football, Rossi became an international icon after single-handedly steering Italy past Brazil with a sublime hat trick in the 1982 World Cup quarter-final.

A master of finding space in behind defences, a rapid runner off the ball and an intelligent thinker, Rossi’s movement around the football field was as magnificent as his finishing.

The Rossi Chronology

From Como to Italy 1982 and Beyond. Paolo Rossi David Ferrini

1972: At the age of 16, he signed for Juventus as a promising, dynamic winger. Having featured in just three Coppa Italia games over two seasons, he was eventually loaned to Como at the age of 18 where he would rack up half a dozen Serie A matches without scoring.

1976/77: The Breakout Season. Loaned out to Vicenza in Serie B, Pablito led the club to the top division, striking 21 goals and adding 2 more in the Italian Cup.

1977/78: Remaining at Vicenza, he scored 24 Serie A goals in 30 games to become the league’s Capocannoniere (on debut) and added 2 more in the Coppa Italia.

World’s Most Expensive Player

The Lanerossi eventually paid out a world record fee, over two billion Lira, to Juventus for full ownership of the Prato-born attacker.

Paolo’s incredible form warranted a call-up for the FIFA 1978 World Cup and his debut international goal came against France in the group stage. After totaling four assists and three goals, Rossi won the Silver Ball award as the Azzurri claimed fourth place in Argentina.

The following season, having helped qualify Vicenza for European football, Rossi struck another 17 goals for a Biancorossi side destined for an unfortunate fall from grace.

1979/80: Remarkably, Vicenza was relegated from Serie A and Rossi was loaned to Perugia. Upon scoring his 13th goal of the season for i Grifoni, he was arrested, questioned and subsequently found guilty of taking part in the Totonero match-fixing scandal.

Hell and Purgatory

Rossi was suspended for two years from professional football but would be allowed to train with, and complete a move back to his junior club, Juventus.

1981/82: With just three club matches under his belt during Juve’s Scudetto winning campaign, Rossi was selected by Enzo Bearzot for FIFA ’82 in Spain.

After a mediocre group stage, Paolo hit a hat trick against Brazil, a brace against Poland and scored the opener in the World Cup Final, hauling Italy to it’s first tournament win in 44 years, against West Germany in Madrid.

Paolo’s Paradise

Netting six times in Spain to be the centre of celebrations in Italy, Rossi was awarded the FIFA Golden Boot (Máximo Goleador), FIFA Golden Ball and the Ballon D’Or awards in 1982.

1982/83: From zero to hero, Rossi led the frontlines for Juventus. Putting away 18 goals in all competitions, he topped the European Cup top scorer’s list with 6, surpassing Aston Villa’s Gary Shaw and teammate Michel Platini.

The Bianconeri lost the European Cup Final to Hamburg, in Athens, courtesy of a Felix Magath thunderbolt which left Dino Zoff stranded but they triumphed over Verona in the Coppa Italia Final with Rossi and Platini combining to overturn a 0–2 first-leg deficit for a 3–2 aggregate win.

Coppa Italia Title, Tick.

A Double Dose of Glory

1983/84: Perhaps Rossi’s greatest season in a Juve shirt, drilling 13 goals to win his second Scudetto and lift the UEFA Cup Winner’ Cup.

After dispatching one against Lechia Gdansk in the first round, he shipped two goals past Manchester United’s Gary Bailey in the semi-final of the Cup Winner’s Cup, including this second-leg winner in the 90th minute.

Under Giovanni Trapattoni, Rossi formed a formidable attacking trio alongside Zbigniew Boniek and Michel Platini, clinching the 1984 UEFA Super Cup, defeating Liverpool in Turin.

European Cup Final Win with Juventus

1984/85: During his final season with the club, Rossi added a European Cup to his long list of achievements, finishing the tournament with 5 goals as Juve beat Liverpool on the big stage yet again.

In just over three full campaigns with La Vecchia Signora, he’d tallied up 44 goals, 13 of those in European competitions.

1985/86: Needing to bolster their struggling squad, Milan came knocking for Rossi’s services and the world champion accepted the challenge.

Pablito’s main claim to Milanese fame came (yes, I could be a rapper too) on Match Day 12 in the Derby della Madonnina against Inter. Wearing the number 10, he struck twice from close range to rescue a result for the Rossoneri.

Enzo Bearzot then called upon Paolo for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, however, riddled with fitness issues, he would not take the field and Italy failed to defend its crown.

1986/87: After winning the Scudetto two years earlier, Verona’s desire to qualify for Europe motivated them to acquire the former Capocannoniere. However, at just 29 years of age, Rossi was spending a lot of time on the sidelines due to injury.

Contributing four goals throughout the campaign, his last Serie A goal would come against Udinese in January of 1987 from the penalty spot, ending his League career with 103 goals and another 31 across the cup tournaments.

Unable to stay match fit, Rossi appeared in his professional game, a three-nil victory over Diego Maradona’s Napoli, on the 11th of April, 1987.

Helping Verona to fourth position, and having won over a dozen individual and team titles, he retired from top-flight football at the age of thirty with 20 national team goals under his belt, 9 of those in World Cups.

The Tributes

Widely accepted as being one of the most prolific Italian strikers of all time, the award for most goals in Serie A (capocannoniere) was officially renamed the “Paolo Rossi Award” in 2021.

Every great player is remembered for one particular reason or another. For Rossi, it was a story of personal redemption and returning to the field to carry the hopes of his nation.

Ti ricorderemo per sempre, Pablito.