Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Salvatore 'Toto' Schillaci, the breakthrough star of Italy’s home World Cup in 1990, died yesterday (Wednesday) aged 59. But, did you know the striker had a fondness for a beer famously brewed in Kilkenny?
The former Messina, Juventus and Inter Milan forward was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2022 and his death was confirmed on Wednesday morning by the Italian football federation (FIGC).
Schillaci’s domestic form for Juve in the 1989-90 season earned him a place in Italy’s squad for the 1990 finals, even though he started the tournament with just one cap to his name.
FOR MORE KILKENNY CITY, CLICK HERE
However, he finished as the tournament’s top goalscorer with six, as the hosts made it through to the semi-final before losing on penalties to Argentina.
Fast-forward to 2002 and the Italian forward starred in an ad for Smithwicks, a beer brewed in Kilkenny City for over 300 years until the brewery's local closure in 2013.
Very sad to learn of the death of Toto Schillaci
— Seán Fay (@Sean_Fay) September 18, 2024
While he might have scored against us, Irish people have great affection for Toto because he was arguably THE iconic name from the best summer of our lives
Here he is starring in a 2002 ad for Irish ale Smithwick’s
RIP Toto! pic.twitter.com/AWik4CCL6L
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
