The one-hit World Cup wonder

As someone who grew up watching Every Goal of Italia '90, I always thought Toto Schillachi was a giant of the game. I never thought about how I'd never heard of him from other World Cups. And Americans at the time didn't have any way to watch European soccer, so I had no idea that he never made a mark in Serie A either.

Football's very own one-hit wonder, an unheralded Schillaci caught the football world unawares when topping the goalscoring charts at Italia '90, but his return to mediocrity was equally rapid, his legacy in the game remaining that miracle month in which the "notti magiche di Toto Schillaci" (magical nights of Toto Schillaci) enraptured a host nation and enthralled fans around the globe.

From Serie B to the World Cup semi-finals in 12 months: Schillaci's story is unique, and his success fleeting. But during that golden period in 1990 - in which he scored six of his seven career international goals, marking each one with scenes of unbridled celebration - the Sicilian striker did more than enough to ensure that his name will be forever associated with football's greatest competition. His is the very definition of an underdog story, and absolutely no one saw it coming.

Remarkably, Schillaci's introduction to top-flight football came just a year before his heroics at the World Cup. Born in Sicily, the striker started his professional career in the lower leagues with Messina and over a seven-year spell gradually carved out a reputation as a player of some abilitly, eventually earning a move to Juventus when, under the guidance of future Lazio and Roma coach Zdenek Zeman, he scored 23 Serie B goals for Messina in the 1988-89 campaign.