Paolo Rossi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaolo ˈrossi]; born 23 September 1956) is an Italian former footballer, who played as a forward. In 1982, he led Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup title, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot as top goalscorer, and Golden Ball for the player of the tournament. Rossi is one of only three players to have won all three awards at a World Cup, along with Garrincha in 1962, and Mario Kempes in 1978. Rossi was also awarded the 1982 Ballon d'Or as the European Footballer of the Year for his performances. Along with Roberto Baggio and Christian Vieri, he is Italy's top scorer in World Cup history, with 9 goals in total.[2]the
At club level, Rossi was also a prolific goalscorer for Vicenza. In 1976 he was signed to Juventus from Vicenza in a co-ownership deal for a world record transfer fee.[3] Vicenza retained his services, and he was top goalscorer in Serie B in 1977, leading his team to promotion to Serie A. The following season, Rossi scored 24 goals, to become the first player to top the scoring charts in Serie B and Serie A in consecutive seasons. In 1981 Rossi made his debut for Juventus, and went on to win two Scudetto titles, the Italian Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super Cup and the European Cup.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest Italian strikers of all time, in 2004 Rossi was named by Pelé as one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration.[4] In the same year, Rossi placed 12 in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. Since retiring, Rossi has gone into sports journalism and punditry. He currently works as a pundit for Juventus Channel.
