Early years Rossi was born in
Prato, Tuscany, Italy in the area of Santa Lucia. Although he was a member of the squad during the 1972–73 season, Rossi made his debut in professional football with
Juventus in 1973, making an appearance in the
Coppa Italia and winning a runners-up medal in the
1973 Intercontinental Cup. He was often injury-prone during his first few seasons, only making three Coppa Italia appearances with Juventus between 1972 and 1975, and scoring no goals. After three operations on his knees, he was later sent to gain experience with
Como, where he made his
Serie A debut during the
1975–76 season, initially playing as a
right winger, where his small build would not be a hindrance; he made six Serie A appearances for the club, but again failed to score. in 1975 His career reached a turning point when
Vicenza Calcio (then Lanerossi Vicenza) engaged him on loan. Coach
Giovan Battista Fabbri decided to move him from the wing and place him in the
centre of the attack (because of injuries to the then centre-forward) just before the season started. Rossi immediately showed a tremendous knack for getting open in the box and scoring, winning the
Serie B Golden Boot with 21 goals in his first year in this more advanced position. In the 1976–77 season, Rossi's qualities as an implacable striker led his team to promotion to Serie A, and he also led Vicenza to the second group stage of the
Coppa Italia that season. In the following season, Rossi scored 24 goals, to become the first player to
top the scoring charts in
Serie B and Serie A in consecutive seasons, also leading Vicenza to a surprising second-place finish in
Serie A during the 1977–78 season, only behind his co-owners Juventus. Due to his performances, he was selected by the
Italy national team's manager
Enzo Bearzot for the
1978 FIFA World Cup. Rossi was also given his Italy debut under Bearzot on 21 December 1977, in a 1–0 friendly away win over
Belgium. Rossi confirmed his growth during the 1978 World Cup tournament, gaining international fame as one of the world's best strikers. Playing for Italy as a central striker, he would sometimes switch positions with the two other forward, going to his original right wing position. Right winger
Franco Causio, a two-footed player, would go left, and Italy's tall left winger
Roberto Bettega would go to the center. This simple stratagem, made possible by the technical quality of all three players, created havoc for opposing defences, and Italy showed an entertaining offensive style of play in the tournament. Rossi totalled three goals and four assists as Italy finished in fourth place in that World Cup. He was named as part of the team of the tournament for his performances, and he also collected the
Silver Ball as the second-best player of the World Cup. Rossi's goal in Italy's opening 2–1 group win of the tournament against
France, on 2 June 1978, was also his first goal for Italy. Up to this point, Rossi had been jointly owned by Vicenza and Juventus. When the two clubs were called to settle the property, Lanerossi offered the shocking sum of 2.612 billion lire for Rossi, who became the
world's most expensive player, and Italy's most costly sportsman ever at that point. After the 1978 World Cup, during the
1978–79 season, Rossi made his European debut with Vicenza in the
UEFA Cup, however, despite scoring 15 goals for the club in Serie A, his season was marked by injuries, and Vicenza was relegated to Serie B. Rossi was subsequently loaned to
Perugia, to play in Serie A the following season.
1982 World Cup trophy. Despite his ban, Rossi was repurchased by
Juventus in 1981, and he returned to the starting line-up just in time for the end of the 1981–82 season to contribute to the club's
1981–82 Serie A title (scoring one goal in three appearances), and to take part in the
1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. Italy manager
Enzo Bearzot, however, staunchly confirmed Rossi for the decisive round robin in the second round, in which his team was to face
Argentina, the
reigning World Cup winners, and
Brazil, the favourites to win the title with a team consisting of world-class players such as
Sócrates,
Zico, and
Falcão. After Italy defeated Argentina 2–1, partly thanks to the defensive work of
Claudio Gentile and
Gaetano Scirea who shut down the young Argentine star
Diego Maradona, Rossi scored a
hat-trick to
defeat Brazil 3–2 to qualify for the semi-finals. Between his goals and assists throughout the tournament, Rossi was directly responsible for 58% of his team's goals during the 1982 World Cup. Rossi became a national hero in Italy for his six goals in the 1982 World Cup finals. Peter Mason, writing for
The Guardian, noted that the World Cup final win, which was set up by Rossi's crucial first goal, "was a cathartic moment for the nation, which had been subject to significant social and political unrest for a number of years and, despite being regarded as one of the world's premier footballing nations, had not won a World Cup since 1938... With the victory came an incalculable lift to the nation’s spirits, and Rossi was at the centre of the celebrations." ==Later years and death==