“It is with great pleasure that I can thank the FIGC for including me in the Italian Football Hall of Fame, an award that means a lot to me. I have wonderful memories of my time at Inter, which rounded me a lot as a player but also as a person": speaking is Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the former German footballer widely considered the best striker in the world in the first half of the eighties, winner of the Ballon d'Or twice while wearing the Bayern Munich jersey.

After Falcao, Ronaldo, Maradona, Batistuta, Van Basten, Platini, Gullit, Zanetti and Boniek, Rummenigge also joins the stars in the Italian football Hall of Fame. The former Nerazzurri left a lasting impression with his goals in Italy while wearing the Inter shirt. “My family and I - continues Rummenigge - have always felt at ease and we are always connected to the club and to the people involved here. Italy will forever be in my heart"

Just yesterday the FIGC awards panel met for the awarding of the prizes for the tenth edition of the Italian Football Hall of Fame, the recognition was established in 2011 by the Fondazione Museo del Calcio and the FIGC to celebrate the players who have left an indelible mark in the history of Italian football. Last year’s event didn’t go ahead due to the pandemic. Rummenigge was awarded the prize for best foreign footballer which is reserved for those who have been retired for at least two seasons and who have played in Italy for at least three championships.

The commission was made up of the President of the Italian Sports Press Union, Gianfranco Coppola, and the directors of national sports newspapers, with Federico Ferri, Director of Sky Sport, Xavier Jacobelli, Director of Tuttosport, Stefano Barigelli, Director of the Gazzetta dello Sport, Alberto Brandi, Co-Director of Sport TGCom 24, Ivan Zazzaroni, Director of Il Corriere dello Sport and of Guerin Sportivo, Piercarlo Presutti, Head of ANSA Sport, Alessandra De Stefano, Director of Rai Sport, in addition to Matteo Marani as President of the Foundation FIGC Football Museum.

In the presence of Federal President Gabriele Gravina and Secretary-General Marco Brunelli, the awarding committee has decreed the new members who will become part of the Italian Football Hall of Fame: Alessandro Nesta (Italian Footballer), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Foreign Footballer), Antonio Conte (Coach), Gianluca Rocchi (Italian Referee), Antonio Cabrini (Italian Veteran), Barbara Bonansea (Italian Footballer), Giovanni Sartori (Italian Manager), Simon Kjær, who wins the award named after Davide Astori, Luigi Simoni, Armando Picchi, Romano Fogli, Fino Fini, Vujadin Boskov, who are awarded the Memory Awards.

The complete list of winners of years gone by is available on the website at www.figc.it is in the Federation section (Events and Projects)