It will not be easy for Antonio Cabrini to make space for yet another award in his trophy cabinet. Last Thursday, the former Azzurro became a member of the exclusive club of the Hall of Fame of Italian football. For someone who has won more or less everything there is to win with the national team and Juventus (a World Cup, a Champions Cup, an Intercontinental Cup, a UEFA Cup, a UEFA Super Cup, a Cup Winners' Cup, six Scudetti and two Italian Cups), to be able to read his name in the 'Italian Veteran' category of the Hall of Fame represents the consecration of a career punctuated with achievements, a long and triumphant football career that took him from the youth teams of Cremonese to the pinnacle of the footballing world: I am very pleased to receive this recognition," said the former Italian full-back, "it is a great honour and it allows us to remember the glory days of the past.”

In addition to Cabrini, this year's inductees into the Hall of Fame are Alessandro Nesta (Italian footballer), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Foreign footballer), Antonio Conte (Coach), Gianluca Rocchi (Italian referee), Barbara Bonansea (Italian footballer), Giovanni Sartori (Italian manager), Simon Kjær - who won the prize named after Davide Astori - Luigi Simoni, Armando Picchi, Romano Fogli, Fino Fini and Vujadin Boskov, who were awarded the Memorial Prizes.

Having featured at no less than three World Cups, with 9 goals in 73 appearances Cabrini is the most prolific defender in the history of the national team. He is the seventh player among the 1982 World Champions to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining a long list that includes Dino Zoff, Marco Tardelli, Paolo Rossi, Bruno Conti, Giancarlo Antognoni and Gabriele Oriali: "We speak to each other every day with our teammates from 1982. What did that national team have in common with Mancini's Italy? A united group for sure, which is, of course, a fundamental aspect of every great achievement and which becomes pivotal in the decisive moments of a World Cup or European Championship". And how would 'Bell'Antonio' have found himself in this national team? "I would have played all the time. Have I watched my successors? Well, let's just say that compared to my time, football has changed a lot, the last giants in my role were Maldini and Roberto Carlos. At the European Championship I appreciated Spinazzola, I liked his exuberance, the resourcefulness he showed".

Barbara Bonansea, a player who Cabrini himself coached, also entered the Hall of Fame last week. At the helm of the National Women's team from 2012 to 2017, the former coach is not surprised by the exponential growth of the women's movement: "The Federation was the first to make the girls game professional in a viable manner, then the affiliation to the men's clubs was the next big leap.”