by Salvo Fallica
With Palermo he scored a famous goal against Cagliari for the Scudetto and another in a friendly against Lev Yashin. He also played for Napoli and Brescia. In 2021 he had lost a 30-year-old son
There are players who already in life become legends for the fans, this is the case of the former Palermo center forward Gaetano Tanino Troja who died at the age of 78 due to a serious illness. died in a Palermo hospital.
The news of his passing has aroused condolences and emotion among friends and fans, many are also remembering him on his brother Santino’s Facebook profile. Tanino Troja in the 60s and 70s was a leader in the Palermo field and has since become one of the symbols of some of the most beautiful pages in the football history of the rosanero team. From symbol to legend, his goals have become legends for the many Palermo fans in Sicily and Northern Italy, and for many migrants abroad.
For many decades he was Palermo Calcio’s most prolific striker, his record only recently being broken by Matteo Brunori. Regarding the goals scored in Serie A, Palermo football always remains at the top, especially for important and decisive goals. Troja, it was no coincidence that he was renamed the bomber, was the author of one of the most famous goals of the Italian championships between the late 60s and 70s. He scored a diving header at the Favorita against the Cagliari of the star players Ricky Albertosi and Gigi Riva in December 1969 That goal sanctified the only defeat in the league of the very strong team that won the Scudetto in the 1969-70 season.
Always traveling in the history of football, his goal in a friendly against Dinamo Moscow should also be remembered: Lev Yashin was in goal, the only goalkeeper in history to have obtained the Ballon d’Or.
Troja is remembered for his football talent, for his nose for goals, for his fairness. He was a classic center forward, a goalscorer. The Rosanero club recalls profound humanity and recognition of the value of the player, with the declaration of the president of Palermo FC Dario Mirri: In the memory of every Palermitan Tanino has always represented the history and the legend of the rosanero. And now it will continue to be, forever. And on the website of the rosanero team, the pain for the disappearance of the striker is expressed with these words: Palermo, with the president Mirri and the whole rosanero family, mourns the disappearance of Gaetano “Tanino” Troja, historic Palermo striker loved by fans of all generation, still today in the first places of the all-time ranking of the Palermo strikers.
Troja was born in Palermo on 20 July 1944. During his football career he collected 133 appearances in Serie A and scored 21 goals. And he scored 36 goals in Serie B. He formed football with Faldese and Patern (at the foot of Etna). In 1964 he arrived at Palermo football, he was twenty years old. And his talent exploded in the Rosanero team. He also played with Napoli, Brescia, Bari (in Serie C) and with Catania in Serie B (Palermo’s historical rival). His transfer to the city under the volcano aroused controversy and diatribes, so much so that Troja obtained from the president of Catania Di Bella not to take the field against Palermo alla Favorita and to follow the match from the grandstand.
Over time, the great esteem for Troja, a symbol of Palermo and of the best Sicilian football, has prevailed among the fans: quality goes beyond belonging. Life next to his successes had reserved for him the pain of the loss of a son, Salvatore, who died in 2021 from a serious illness. He was only 30 years old. Football was for Tanino his work and his passion. Of Troja not only the goalscoring statistics remain but also the commitment, seriousness and humanity.
June 19, 2023 (change June 19, 2023 | 21:51)
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