Rossi watches on from the wings

Paolo `Pablito' Rossi is an exception to the rule. Rossi (41), an inspirational figure in Italy's 1982 World Cup winning side in Spain as well as the leading goalscorer in that tournament, is one of the game's former greats who will watch next summer's France '98 finals from afar.

Former greats, from Pele to Just Fontaine to Sir Bobby Charlton to Franz Beckenbauer, have long since become familiar figures at World Cup or European Championship finals tournaments. Their presence not only generates a variety of sponsorship-related photo opportunities, but, more importantly, adds a sense of historical continuity to the world's greatest game.

It is true that many of these stars of yesteryear turn up at major finals for the money they can earn from endorsements, sponsorship, or TV, radio and newspaper work. Yet, most of them would probably attend anyway, with or without the cash incentive. For most professionals, football is a "fix", an addiction they can never really shake off.

Look at France '98 itself and see who is in charge of the show - former France and Juventus idol Michel Platini. All 32 coaches of the France '98 finalists are themselves former players, some of them at relatively modest levels (US coach Steve Sampson or Japan's Takesi Okada) and some at the very highest level (Daniel Passarella of Argentina, Mario Zagallo of Brazil and Bertie Vogts of Germany all won World Cups as players).

The whereabouts of Italy's 1982 squad reinforces the point. Remarkably, two of them - Pietro Vierchowod (Piacenza) and Giuseppe Bergomi (Inter Milan) - are still playing Serie A soccer at the respective ages of 38 and 34. As for the rest, it comes as no surprise to discover that four of them - Antonio Cabrini, Fulvio Collovati, Giovanni Galli and Giuseppe Dossena - work as TV pundits, while among the remainder there are nine club directors or presidents (including Lazio president Dino Zoff), one goalkeeper coach, two youth team coaches. Marco Tardelli will be at France '98 as the number two to Italian team coach Cesare Maldini. The late Gaetano Scirea, captain and libero of the '82 team, was a scout for Juventus when he died in a car accident in Poland in September 1989. Paolo Rossi is different. Ten years after his retirement, he is a soccer `drop-out', with no professional connection to today's game. Last summer, while working on a soccer documentary, your correspondent caught up with Rossi in Vicenza, Northern Italy, where he runs a real estate business (opened before his playing career had finished) and where life after football seems very good indeed.

"It's a huge relief to be out of soccer, even after all this time. I'm glad to be away from the stress. I got much out of soccer, but I gave a lot too. Occasionally, I might go to watch Vicenza play here at home, but most Sundays I prefer to go horse riding or scuba-diving or just sit at home.

"Remember, this is Italy where soccer is a part of the very fabric of society. In Italy, 90 per cent of people say they follow soccer closely and the other 10 per cent say they know nothing about soccer, but that other 10 per cent are lying, they follow it too"

Two years ago, he separated from his wife, Simonetta, but he remains in close contact with her and he sees his 15-year-old son, Alessandro, daily. The real estate business, too, is a genuine commercial concern. Rossi claimed last year that he hadn't become a millionaire during his playing days.

"In the year that we won the World Cup, my salary with Juventus was worth about £57,000 per annum, before tax. Tardelli, Cabrini and myself went to Boniperti (club president) to look for a rise, and he gave us an extra £2,300. Nowadays, people earn £1 million per season."

Rossi may have broken with soccer, but his choice of hometown has everything to do with his former profession. It was as a 20-year-old striker for Vicenza that he first exploded onto the Italian scene in the '76-'77 season, scoring 21 Serie A goals. The following year he did even better, scoring 24 league goals and earning himself a surprise call-up from Enzo Bearzot for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina where his penalty area stealth and striker's sixth sense won him immediate international acclaim.

Four years later, Enzo Bearzot kept the faith, recalling Rossi to the World Cup squad on the eve of the finals notwithstanding the fact that he had played only three league games in the previous two years because of a two-year suspension for (indirect) involvement in a betting scandal. Rossi repaid Bearzot's loyalty more than handsomely.

Like many before him, Rossi was eventually forced to quit because of injury problems. Having played an important part in the Juventus side which won the ill-fated 1985 European European Cup final at the Heysel Stadium, he eventually quit in December 1987 at the age of 31.

As an outsider, Rossi looks at today's soccer without much enthusiasm. He will be watching and shouting for Italy in front of his TV, but he is cautious about what to expect.

"The 1994 World Cup was disappointing, while last summer's European Championships were a big bore, with all those games ending up on penalties. Let's hope for better. There are obviously talented players still around - Zola, Weah, Savicevic, Del Piero etc - but they need space, someone needs to set them free. As for a World Cup prediction, I can't be original. The winner will come from the usual suspects - Brazil, Argentina, Germany, maybe Italy, maybe France."