An exhibition dedicated to some of the great names who shaped several decades of world football has opened in Rijeka, following previous presentations in Amsterdam, Rome, Milan, Florence, Turin, Bologna, Belgrade, Venice and Zurich. The central figure of the exhibition is Paolo Rossi, the celebrated striker of the Italian national team. Rossi rose to international fame at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, scoring against Brazil, featuring Falcão, Argentina led by Maradona, Poland with Boniek, and, in the final, West Germany with Briegel. Rossi finished the tournament as its top scorer and went on to win the Ballon d’Or. Among the exhibits are the boots Rossi wore when he scored his famous hat-trick against Brazil in 1982, an official FIFA award from the same year, and the jersey he wore in the World Cup final. Also on display are his Ballon d’Or, Golden Boot, all of his medals, numerous photographs and personal documents. The exhibition also features signed jerseys given to Rossi by players including Totti, Ibrahimović, Neymar, Mbappé and Guardiola, as well as Lionel Messi’s jersey from the 2014 World Cup. Photographs signed by Diego Maradona are on display, together with jerseys worn by Maradona and Pelé. A section of the exhibition is dedicated to Croatian football. It includes Luka Modrić’s jersey from the 2017 UEFA Champions League final in Cardiff against Juventus, as well as jerseys associated with Davor Šuker, Robert Prosinečki, Zvonimir Boban, Dario Šimić, Marcelo Brozović, Mateo Kovačić, Igor Tudor and Mario Pašalić, among others. The exhibition was organised in cooperation with the Embassy of the Italian Republic in Croatia, the University of Rijeka, the Italian Union, the Croatian Football Federation and the Faculty of Law in Rijeka. Following its presentation in Rijeka, the exhibition will travel to New York, where it will be displayed at the United Nations Headquarters.
The exhibition is on view from 24 January to 14 February 2025.
