TIRANA, Feb 2 /ATA/- A rare exhibition showcasing a unique collection of photos and personal items of the golden boy of the Italian football, Paolo Rossi, who was admired also by the Albanian football lovers in the 70s and the 80s and who has exchanged jerseys with the then other world football legends, was opened at the National History Museum in Tirana on Thursday.

Attending the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Prime Minister Edi Rama invited all the then football spectators to visit the rare exhibition.

“All of those who used to watch football back then should definitely see this rare exhibition,” Rama said.

The government head said that the Italian football legend “Paolo Rossi pushed and went beyond any limits, yet he never stopped smiling.”

According to him, “Rossi was a legendary football player who has left an important legacy in this world.”

“We open the doors to welcome all of those who wish to embark on this trip back to the past, but still think about the future. We here in Albania have experienced football in a very different way and we have gone through Italy’s triumph in the World Championship in 1982 in a completely different way, because we were tucked away of the rest of the world and we couldn’t travel and watch TV except the TV of the regime’s propaganda,” PM Rama said.

To us – he went on saying – football was an image of another world.

The government head noted that the idea to launch the exhibition in Tirana was tabled by the Italian and world football legend Arrigo Sacchi.

“I felt both honored and proud that Arrigo proposed this exhibition. I know Arrigo is not an easy-going and that he doesn’t do favors, yet he thinks what he says and he does what he thinks and this is a very rare thing,” PM Rama said.

Arrigo Sacchi, one of the world’s all-time leading football coaches, Paolo Rossi’s spouse Federica Cappelletti, also Honorary President of Paolo Rossi foundation, the Italian Ambassador to Albania Fabrizio Bucci, and the President of the Albanian Football Federation Armando Duka, attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

The exhibition “Paolo Rossi, a golden boy” commemorates the recently deceased Italian champion.

The exhibition, which features memorabilia, shirts and iconic photographs from the footballer’s career, is organized by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Tirana.

The display includes memorabilia rarely seen by the public, the original medals from the ‘82 World Cup, among which the World Champion medal stands out.

The hero of the World Championship ‘82, top scorer of the World Cup in Spain, will be told through an exhibition that will retrace all the most important stages of his life, divided into various sections.

The exhibition entitled “Paolo Rossi, a golden boy” will remain open until February 24.