The amazing story of Italy's Paolo Rossi

The football World Cup as a spectacle offers its participants the chance the carve their name in history. One such player is Italian Paolo Rossi, who wasn't a typical striker, nor was he even considered as a champion before he made history. He was small, frail and lacked the technique that some other Italian heroes had. The player had begun his football career with Juventus, but he wouldn't play a match with them until eight years after he was first signed. After undergoing three knee operations in the early stages of his career, the striker born in Prato was loaned to Serie B side Como before he scored 21 goals to help his new club, Vicenza, to win Serie A promotion a year later. The next season, he netted 24 times with Vicenza and became the first striker to be the top scorer in the top two divisions of Italian football in consecutive seasons. This fine domestic form led Enzo Bearzot to call him up to the Italian national team during the 1978 World Cup, where he went on to score three goals in the competition. It was the perfect experience for the event that would ensue four years later. The events at the 1978 World Cup are hardly the main point of any Paolo Rossi story. It was what he would do later in his career that is still whispered about in quiet alleyways around Italy and throughout the world. In 1980, Rossi found himself engulfed in the now-infamous scandal while he played for Perugia. The striker was suspended for three years from football but had his sentence shortened to two seasons instead. Rossi maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal. Shortly after, Rossi signed for Juventus and would be called up to the 1982 World Cup, much to the complaint of the Italian media who said he was out of shape and simply not fit enough to be part of the Azzurri squad. They were seemingly justified in their criticism as Rossi was diabolical; wandering aimlessly around the pitch during Italy's first three matches in the competition. But after Italy knocked out Argentina with a 2-1 victory, Rossi would go on to score one of the most memorable hat-tricks in history against a superior Brazilian side, as Italy triumphed 3-2 in that match. Italy made it to the World Cup semifinals against Poland where the striker went on to net a brace, which was good enough to get the Italians to the finals where they'd face Germany. In one of the most remarkable stories in football, Paolo Rossi, a striker who was only recently banned from football and hopelessly out of shape, went on to bravely carry a nation to glory as he managed to score the first goal in Italy's 3-1 win against Germany in the final. With six goals in the entire competition, Paolo Rossi won the Golden Boot and went on to achieve superhuman status among Italians, and his career is still proudly boasted about today. This year’s showpiece event is just six days away with all the players eager to answer the question as to who will become a legend of 2014’s edition. ROME-BLEACHER REPORT