Fickle Fans Love Star--for Now : Italy: Schillaci is adored after scoring the only goal against Austria, but he was spat upon last month.

From out of the South has come the man to lead Italy to the World Cup. He is Salvatore Schillaci, the player who came off the bench to score Italy’s only goal in its 1-0 opening-game victory over Austria last week.

Schillaci is an unlikely hero in the epicenter of national attention. A quiet and self-conscious man, nicknamed Toto, he has experienced first-hand Italy’s fickle fans.

Schillaci, 26, has become the national hero, as measured by headlines and on-the-street expert commentary. The nation’s largest newspaper, La Gazetta Dello Sport, blared from its front page the other day: “Toto, let’s hug each other!” It was simple, declarative and absolutely two-faced, in light of the treatment Schillaci has received here.

Schillaci’s ascendance is predictable, given his role in Italy’s opening victory, but it is laced with irony nonetheless. Only weeks ago, Schillaci was the object of scorn by Italian soccer fans, especially in Florence.

When the national team assembled last month near here to open its World Cup training camp, the players were welcomed with bricks and angry mobs. The soccer fans were protesting the sale of a local player to a rival Italian League team. The national team arrived in the middle of it.

Schillaci was singled out for special attention by the crowds, because he plays for the hated Juventus team from Turin. As he drove into the training camp through throngs of Florentine fans, Schillaci’s car was kicked and spat upon and he was showered with shouts of “ terrone, “ an insult reserved for Southern Italians and which loosely translates, “peasant.”

Italians seldom stray far from their regional politics, even in matters of sport. The haughty, wealthy North considers the rural, agricultural South in every way its inferior. Anything below Milan is a vast cultural desert, as far as the rest of the country is concerned. Yet, Monday’s lead story in Il Messaggero carried the headline, “Toto Unifies Italy.”

That such a player could presume to unite Italy is remarkable. Schillaci is from Sicily, which Northern Italians consider part of Africa. Sicilians are stereotyped as being ignorant and coarse, violent and backward. When this year, in his first season in first division soccer, Schillaci kicked an opposing player who had fallen to the ground, the incident was seized upon as illustrating his brutish nature.

Schillaci has borne the taunts with a stoicism that, in its silence, has served to further the stereotype.

Amid the South-bashing, Schillaci has remained fervently loyal to his region. After Italy’s victory, Schillaci watched televised reports of the celebrations in his hometown of Palermo, with the city toasting its native son. Schillaci was moved to tears by the show of support.

He has said repeatedly that he intends to settle in Palermo after his soccer career is over and remains close to a large extended family. Schillaci has become especially disturbed by taunts when they have affected his family.

All of which is made worse because Schillaci, a second-grade dropout, has never been confident enough in his ability to defend himself with any eloquence.

Schillaci’s goal against Austria was masterful, but it was even more remarkable because it came only four minutes after he had been substituted into the game.

He replaced Andrea Carnevale, who was taken off in the 74th minute with fatigue brought on by the game’s furious pace. Despite his substitute’s goal, Carnevale will start against the United States tonight in Rome, but Schillaci will undoubtedly see action.