Italy will wear black armbands in their final Euro 2020 group game against Wales on Sunday as a tribute to Giampiero Boniperti.
The former Italy and Juventus striker died earlier this week due to heart failure, just two weeks before his 93rd birthday.
Boniperti spent his entire playing career at Juventus between 1946 and 1961, scoring 178 goals in 443 appearances for the club.
After ending his playing career, Juventus made him an honorary president.
Boniperti also scored eight goals in 38 games for Italy and represented his nation at the 1952 Olympics.
‘Boniperti’s death represents an enormous loss,’ said FIGC President Gabriele Gravina.
‘An extraordinary player, an impeccable director, we lose one of the most representative figures in Italian football.
‘His competence, style and determination taught us so much, we will never forget him.’
A statement from Juventus read: ‘This is the news we never wanted to give you.
‘Today, 18 June 2021, we bid farewell to Giampiero Boniperti, who passed away in Turin at the age of 92.
‘This emotion we are all feeling right now will not prevent us from thinking fondly of him for everything our President was and will always be in Juventus’ life.
‘An indelible figure, who, as of today, is handed over to memory because he has been in the history of football for some time.
‘Because when you express a thought, and that thought becomes part of the DNA of the club you have dedicated your life to, it means that your character has become its identity and way of being. Forever.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page
Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
0 Commentaires