Italian soccer hall of fame, awarded ‘Spillo’ Altobelli, Gianfranco Zola and Cristiana Girelli

The ceremony was held Monday in Coverciano

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It è took place Monday, in Coverciano, the 12th edition of the Italian Football Hall of Fame, which gives prestigious awards to personalities who, on and off the field, have brought prestige to the Bel Paese ball. Awarded this year were 1982 world champion Alessandro 'Spillo' Altobelli, the legend of the '90s and early 2000s Gianfranco Zola and women’s national team champion Cristiana Girelli. Also honored was Ernesto Pellegrini, former president of Inter of the famous 'Scudetto dei record' of 1988/89.

The ceremony was attended by the president of the Italian Football Federation Gabriele Gravina, the technical commissioner of the men’s national team Luciano Spalletti (accompanied by head of delegation Gianluigi Buffon and Azzurri captain Gianluigi Donnarumma) and that of the women’s selection, Andrea Soncin.

As per tradition, the honorees who became part of the Italian soccer Hall of Fame brought an heirloom to represent their careers, which from today will enrich the collection of the Football Museum. ‘Spillo’ Altobelli donated to the museum the Azzurri jersey number nine, worn in the victory against Malta that was decisive in then qualifying for the 1988 European Championship.

The heirloom brought by Cristiana Girelli for the Hall of Fame è was the jersey worn in the round of 16 of the 2019 World Cup in France, while Gianfranco Zola brought Chelsea’s number 25 jersey, a symbol of his English experience when he was called ‘Magic box’. Pellegrini, who was unable to be present during the award ceremony, will donate to the museum the gold medal from the Scudetto ‘of records’ won by Inter.

Posthumous awards were also given during the ceremony, to the memory of Erno Erbstein (technical director of Grande Torino, among the victims of the Superga tragedy), Sinisa Mihajlovic and Mario Sconcerti, who passed away on Dec. 16 and 17, 2022, respectively.