Paulo Rossi

Italian striker Paulo Rossi was banned from football for two years in 1980 in a ‘match-fixing’ scandal. He only completed the ban in April 1982 and the Italy manager took a risk in selecting him for the World Cup Finals.

In the first three games Rossi did not score and many Italian journalists called for him to be dropped.

The game against Brazil changed everything.




Rossi scored a hat-trick against Brazil, two more in the semi-final and one in the final. He was the top scorer of the 1982 tournament