Paolo Rossi (4 Viewers)

[JuveJay]

Some months ago they showed the Cup winners Cup final from 1984 (Juve-Porto). I was a kid back in the early-mid 80s and my father used to take me to football matches on regular basis, but I completely forgot how different football used to be in those days. Almost like a different sport. What is now a clear yellow which borders a red card, was never even called back then. And this Juve-Porto match was a European final.
I am saying this because it's hard to imagine the beating attacking players used to receive. Platini most of all, but also Rossi, Boniek and Vignola were getting destroyed. Almost every team consisted of 3-4 talents and 6-7 butchers and those butchers were there only to hurt you.
No wonder Rossi retired at 31, while Platini, Boniek and Vignola at 32. I'm not even sure how these guys could walk once they turned 40.

Maradona another example. He was virtually crippled by the time the 90s came, notably that broken ankle caused by the infamous Andoni Goicoechea foul, but he still played on. He was on a cocktail of drugs at an early stage, and not just because of his background and personality.

Retired footballers now still suffer from knee and hip problems, but that is mostly from wear and tear and general injuries. Back in those days you were almost signing your mobility away in your later years.

 

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[JuveJay]

Platini's passing, Jesus.

Made me laugh where he nutmegged his marker Remi Moses early on in the game. You don't come back from that.

 

[JuveJay]

Baggio: 'I wanted to be like Paolo Rossi'

By Football Italia staff

La Gazzetta dello Sport has published a letter written by Roberto Baggio for Paolo Rossi: ‘I wanted to be like you, you made the dream of millions of Italians came true, something that I couldn’t accomplish.’

The 1982 Italy World Cup winner died on Wednesday aged 64.

“My awakening, another beating. A great cornerstone of Italian football leaves us. Paolo, PABLITO, PAOLO ROSSI,” Baggio wrote in an heartbreaking letter published by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Almost always he had to be called with name and surname: he was not Rossi he is, and always will be, PAOLO ROSSI.

“The sweet memories of when I was 10 years old come to the surface, preserved for decades in one of the many albums of my memory.

“Today, thanks to Pablito, I skim through that album. I remember my beloved father Fiorindo, who passed away just a few months ago, and I traveling almost 12 kilometers, in two on a bicycle, to get to Vicenza starting from Caldogno.

“We went to the Stadio Menti to watch the great Paolo Rossi. Then, throughout the game, I clung to the fence to watch him play and score.

“I thought one day I’d be playing in that stadium too, wearing that beautiful shirt with the big R on my chest. Imitating Paolo Rossi, I could have realized what he managed to achieve. Win a World Cup in the final against Brazil.

“What Paolo Rossi did against Germany. Win the Ballon d'Or, as Paolo Rossi did. Win on the suffering of struggling knees. Like Paolo Rossi did. Winning in a world that needs more and more the smile of Paolo Rossi.

“A wonderful trip to China recently brought us together again. We talked a lot about how much we had lived in common, and how much we should do for a better future. Especially in football.

“Paolo made the dream of millions of Italians came true, something that I couldn’t accomplish. Understanding the mystery of life today and give a reason to the things that happen to us, is not easy, like the emptiness that Paolo leaves in the heart of his wife and his three children to whom go my thoughts and my understanding.

“Goodbye Paolo, I wonder if you will wear your football boots when you are in the sky. I hope so, I hope your smile arrives there too. We will remember it here for a long time. Have a safe journey Paolo, in the eternal sky of the quiet light.”

 

[Elvin]

So proud that this Calcio icon was also a Juve icon

 

[Fab Fragment]

Unfortunately, these old-timers were not paid well at the time. I really don’t know how much their pay was. The foreigners - Platini and I'm sure Boniek was but the rest of the team - not as much. There was grumbling among the Italian players about this unfair treatment.

 

[JuveJay]

Unfortunately, these old-timers were not paid well at the time. I really don’t know how much their pay was. The foreigners - Platini and I'm sure Boniek was but the rest of the team - not as much. There was grumbling among the Italian players about this unfair treatment.

You might find this interesting: https://www.guerinsportivo.it/news/calcio/2017/08/18-1143622/il_contratto_di_paolo_rossi/

So after starring in the 1982 World Cup Rossi wanted 200m lire and Gentile and Tardelli wanted 150m each, the club only wanted to offer 130m to Rossi and 115m to the other two. The players negotiated unsuccessfully with Boniperti directly, but it took the intervention of Gianni Agnelli to make sure these champions were not lost, as the image of the club was important, and they ended up with salaries close to their demands.

For reference, 200 million lire then was about US$140,000. In comparison, the average annual income in the US at the time was just over $11,000. Would be less than this for Italians. So they were very well paid in comparison to the average person. When the player's demands came into the press there were jokes made such as "how will the players be able to feed their children!?".

Platini was paid 400m lire, twice the salary of Rossi. Maradona was the best-paid player at that time, earning 500m lire at Barcelona. But in Italy it's worth remembering the exclusivity of foreign stars at the time, so they were in a much better bargaining position. Juve bought Platini for peanuts (250m lire - less than his annual salary), so they did brilliantly with that deal from both a sporting and financial point of view.

 

[Stevie]

Rossi's home robbed during funeral

Criminals reportedly broke into Paolo Rossi’s house during his funeral and stole personal effects including a watch.

The Italy legend and Ballon d’Or winner was cremated today after an event at the Stadio Romeo Menti in Vicenza and a ceremony at the Duomo cathedral in the same city.

News agency Ansa reports that when Rossi’s wife returned to the home they shared, she discovered burglars had broken in.

 

[Jem83]

ffs

 

[JuveJay]

Rossi's home robbed during funeral

Criminals reportedly broke into Paolo Rossi’s house during his funeral and stole personal effects including a watch.

The Italy legend and Ballon d’Or winner was cremated today after an event at the Stadio Romeo Menti in Vicenza and a ceremony at the Duomo cathedral in the same city.

News agency Ansa reports that when Rossi’s wife returned to the home they shared, she discovered burglars had broken in.

Should be put in stocks in the middle of the piazza.

 

[Siamak]

Oggi sarebbe stato il tuo compleanno...Tanti auguri fin lassù Pablito! ♥️

 

[Siamak]

 

[Salvo]

Legend