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Andrea Pirlo, Romelu Lukaku Receive Italian Football Hall of Fame Honours
Jason DeCrow/Associated PressAndrea Pirlo, Romelu Lukaku and Zbigniew Boniek are among the players who will be honoured during this year’s Italian football Hall of Fame ceremony on May 4.Per Football Italia, the Italian Football Federation announced Pirlo as the latest addition to the Hall of Fame. Lukaku will be given the Astori Award for fair…
Jason DeCrow/Associated Press
Andrea Pirlo, Romelu Lukaku and Zbigniew Boniek are among the players who will be honoured during this year's Italian football Hall of Fame ceremony on May 4.
Per Football Italia, the Italian Football Federation announced Pirlo as the latest addition to the Hall of Fame. Lukaku will be given the Astori Award for fair play, and Boniek will be recognised for his contributions to the sport in Italy as a foreign player. Carlo Mazzone will be inducted among the HoF coaches and Antonio Percassi among the directors.
The Hall of Fame was born in 2011, and since the first edition of the event, an impressive list of players has been inducted. Pirlo will join Roberto Baggio, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Vialli, Giuseppe Bergomi, Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti, who have all been recognised in previous years.
The midfielder spent most of his professional career in Italy, starting at Brescia. He joined Inter Milan in 1998 but was never able to break into the starting XI with the Nerazzurri. He did transition from attacking midfield to a deep-lying role during this time, which is where he would find fame.
A move to rivals AC Milan followed in 2001, and he would win two Serie A titles and two UEFA Champions Leagues as a member of the team.
By 2011, he appeared to be past his peak, and the Rossoneri allowed him to join Juventus on a free transfer. That proved to be a colossal mistake, as the veteran became a key figure in the resurgence of the Bianconeri, winning four more Serie A titles. He finished his career with New York City FC, hanging up his boots in 2017.
As a member of the national team, his greatest achievement was winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He broke the deadlock in a semi-final win over hosts Germany with a splendid assist for Fabio Grosso's goal in extra time:
Pirlo also converted Italy's first penalty in the shootout in the final against France.
Lukaku has only spent half a season in Italy so far, but his impact has already been major, both on and off the pitch. As a striker for Inter, he has been scoring at a solid rate:
B/R Football @brfootball
Another day, another brace for @RomeluLukaku9 💪
16 goals in 22 Serie A games for Inter ⚡ https://t.co/3Z7nqaTqTF
The Belgian is being recognised for taking a stand against racism.
Per Football Italia, he was the target of racial abuse during a win over Cagliari, while pundit Luciano Passirani was banned from a TV show after saying the only way to stop him was giving him “10 bananas to eat,” per BBC Sport.
He also handed a penalty over to 17-year-old team-mate Sebastiano Esposito, giving the youngster the chance to score his first Serie A goal.
MARCO BERTORELLO/Getty Images
Polish midfielder and forward Boniek helped Juventus to a Serie A title and a European Cup win before guiding Roma to a Coppa Italia victory a year later.
While his time in Italy was relatively short―he played in Serie A between 1982 and 1988―he has become something of a cult hero. Perhaps his finest outing came in the 1984 European Super Cup against Liverpool, where he scored both goals:
Percassi is the current chairman of Atalanta, who have been one of the best Cinderella stories in European football this season. They qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League and sit fourth in the Serie A standings with the league's best attacking record.
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