Six new stars adorn the sky of Italian football, which today shines even more brightly under the splendour of the six legends - in strict alphabetical order - Boninsegna, Braida, De Rossi, Giacinti, Shevchenko and Spalletti; a glittering sky at Coverciano, in the heart of Italian football, in the memory of three greats of the sport, such as Di Bartolomei, D'Amico and Scopigno, and thanks to the award named after ‘Davide Astori’, presented to Santo Rullo for his ‘Crazy for Football’ project.

It was one of those evenings that excites, envelops you in goose bumps, and leaves a smile on your face. The twelfth edition of the Hall of Fame was a ceremony full of positive sentiments, as the six new stars of Italian football were called to the stage in the Coverciano auditorium: coach Luciano Spalletti; the 2006 World Champion, Daniele De Rossi; the 2004 Golden Ball winner, Andriy Shevchenko; the general manager of that same AC Milan team, Ariedo Braida; the vice World Champion in 1970, Roberto Boninsegna, and the 2019 ‘Best Women's XI’ member, Italian player Valentina Giacinti.

‘It is a source of great pride,’ underlined federal president Gabriele Gravina, ‘to present the awards to these extraordinary players. The Hall of Fame is a symbol of affection and admiration for those who have marked the history of Italian football: we celebrate their example, which also goes beyond the technical.'

‘It is a beautiful evening,’ reiterated the Azzurri's Head of Delegation, Gianluigi Buffon, who then continued: ‘To have an idea of where we should go in the future, we need to know the past: this means strengthening the sense of belonging, which in sport can make the difference.’

THE AWARD-WINNERS. After the start of the ceremony, with greetings from the ‘hosts’, namely the federal president Gabriele Gravina and the Azzurri's head of delegation Gianluigi Buffon, it is time for the awards, announced live on TV on RaiSport by presenter Alberto Rimedio. On stage are all six of the new stars of Italian football, seated in a lounge that smacks of legend. The first to be honoured is the 2006 World Cup champion Daniele De Rossi, who was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in the ‘footballer’ category.

‘The penalty kicked in the final? I went to the penalty spot quite calmly, let's say so...’ recalled De Rossi, about the series of shots from the penalty spot in the final against France in 2006, when he was only 22 years old. ‘I will always be grateful,’ De Rossi continued, ’to Marcello Lippi, not only for the final triumph, but also for the extraordinary path we have lived together.
Then it was the turn of coach Spalletti, who showed the four memorabilia donated to the Football Museum for the occasion. Among them is a train conductor's whistle, with which he used to direct training sessions, ‘because I used to say that you had to go like a train...’ he jokes. Then a note: ‘To understand the importance of this award, you only have to see who I am here with tonight. When you dedicate your whole life to a profession, you have to ask yourself whether it was worth it. And this award is the answer: absolutely yes.'

Emotions filled the Coverciano auditorium when Andriy Shevchenko is announced. The current president of the Ukrainian football federation first thanked ‘President Gravina for allowing Ukrainian children to come to Coverciano in this beautiful centre’, then reads a letter he has written: ‘Dear Italian football,’ Shevchenko begins in a voice that lets all his emotion show, ending with ‘entering the hall of fame is an enormous privilege. Italy, I love you.'

And the general manager who brought Sheva to Italy, to AC Milan, was the then Rossoneri general manager Ariedo Braida: ‘Of course, in football algorithms always work, but footballers have a heart and Sheva really moved me this evening. I am proud to have brought him to Milan. Thank you Shevchenko.’ The two then recalled the time when Braida brought a Rossoneri shirt to the Ukrainian striker to convince him to come to Italy: ‘Do you want to win the Ballon d'Or? Then this is the right shirt for you.' And indeed, then, in 2004, Shevchenko would win the Ballon d'Or...

The moment of the great forwards continued with the awarding of the Italian player Valentina Giacinti: ‘Even as a child, my dream was to become a forward for Italy and to wear the number 9 shirt, like Bobo Vieri whom I used to watch on TV. The goal scored at the 2019 World Cup against China was the most exciting of my career in the Azzurri.'

Then it was Boninsegna's turn, who recalled the 1970 World Cup final against Pelè's Brazil: ‘At the end of the first half we believed in it, but we were tired, we were coming from the historic semi-final against Germany...’

MEMORIAL AWARDS AND THE ‘DAVIDE ASTORI’ PRIZE. After the six new inductees into the Hall of Fame, it is time for the memorial awards, which celebrate three icons of Italian football from the past such as Agostino Di Bartolomei, Vincenzo D'Amico and Manlio Scopigno. Luca Di Bartolomei, Agostino's son, underlines the emotion of sharing the stage ‘with Vincenzo D'Amico's family: it touches my heart.’ And Simona D'Amico, Vincenzo's wife, highlights how ‘Lazio represented a pure love for him’. Fabrizio Formichetti, president of the Asd Scopigno Cup and of the national award named after Manlio Scopigno, finally comments on how the scudetto-winning Cagliari coach ‘transformed football thanks to some great intuitions, such as fuid full-backs: he was a great innovator.’

It is time for the award dedicated to ‘Davide Astori’ and Santo Rullo, who receives the recognition for the ‘Crazy for football’ project and the creation of the Italy team for people with mental health problems. He commented: ‘Pasolini said: football may be the opium of the people, but opium is also a therapy. So football has a great responsibility. And when our boys play, they become footballers.' President Gravina confirmed: ‘Football is unique and thanks to its ability to excite, it is a vehicle for great inclusion.’

The closure of the evening is in the words of the president of the Football Museum Foundation, Matteo Marani: ‘The museum in Coverciano collects the greatest pages of Italian football, starting from the triumphs of the years. All the greats of our football are there, and the difficulty in choosing who to induct into the Hall of Fame is precisely the symbol of the beauty of our football.'

HALL OF FAME OF ITALIAN FOOTBALL. Established in 2011 by the Football Museum Foundation and the FIGC, the Hall of Fame of Italian Football is an event designed to enhance the heritage, history, culture and values of Italian football. This year's inductees were decided by an online vote on the FIGC digital profiles, after a short list was shared by the jury composed of the president of the Unione Stampa Sportiva Italiana, Gianfranco Coppola, and the directors of the national sports newspapers, Iacopo Volpi (Rai Sport director), Federico Ferri (Sky Sport director), Guido Vaciago (Tuttosport director), Stefano Barigelli (Gazzetta dello Sport director), Alberto Brandi, (co-director with responsibility for Sport NewsMediaset), Ivan Zazzaroni (Corriere dello Sport and Guerin Sportivo director), Piercarlo Presutti (ANSA Sport director), as well as Matteo Marani, in his capacity as president of the Football Museum Foundation.

HALL OF FAME, XII EDITION: THE AWARD WINNERS

Italian footballer: Daniele De Rossi
Coach: Luciano Spalletti
Foreign player: Andriy Shevchenko
Female footballer: Valentina Giacinti
Veteran: Roberto Boninsegna
Manager: Ariedo Braida
Memorial Awards: Agostino Di Bartolomei, Vincenzo D'Amico, Manlio Scopigno
Davide Astori Award: Santo Rullo for the “Crazy for Football” project