It was last August 13th. Totò Schillaci wanted to fulfill a wish he had been carrying inside for many years: visit the tomb of Franco Scoglio, the coach who was fundamental to his growth in Messinawith Ballarò and Zeman. Today that date, that visit, that last wish send shivers down your spine. A month before his death. Schillaci probably knew that there was less and less time in the hourglass.
He arrived in Lipari as a guest of the Juventus Official Fan club Santa Lucia del Mela, welcomed by the coordinator Michele China. He was in the company of his wife and a couple of friends. The next morning, the eve of Ferragosto, he asked China to accompany him to the cemetery, and with just the two of them Tobia, the firstborn of Franco Scogliowho died in Genoa on October 3, 2005. Totò arrived with a bouquet of flowers and was the one who asked Michele China to shoot a video in which he thanked his former coach.
And a sentence that today sounds like a testament. “He told me to take everything back – tells China – but not to release the video until the day he gave me his consent. But then he also added: “Or you’ll figure out for yourself when it’s time to make it public.“. Totò probably already knew what he was getting into. His illness was already in an advanced stage. “After finishing the visit to the cemetery – Michele China’s story continues – Totò took part in a boat trip first to Stromboli, under the Sciara del Fuoco and then to Panarea, but the next day he remained in his room at the Hotel Mea due to accumulated tiredness, and here it was necessary to have an oxygen tank given to him because he couldn’t breathe well”.
The group left the next day. Totò Schillaci had been invited to Lipari at the beginning of June for the “Bastardi di Scoglio” gathering, but he had not been able to go because he was undergoing a series of treatments in those days. The content of the video is touching, both for the words addressed to his former coach, but also when, addressing his Messina teammates, he apologizes for not being able to go to the June reunion in Lipari. “Champion, I told him on the day of departure – concludes China – when you return to Lipari, shall we organize a nice evening with the Eolians of the Official Fan club?” And what did he answer? “You know, I have one word, I will return with pleasure because you are special, but first I have to be well”.