An intense moment of contemplation in front of the plaque placed next to where the sadly famous Sector Z was located. This evening, on the eve of the Nations League match with Belgium scheduled for tomorrow in what has now been renamed the ‘King Baudouin’ Stadium , the entire national team paid homage to the victims of the Heysel massacre. The president of the FIGC Gabriele Gravina, the head of the delegation of the national team Gianluigi Buffon and coach Luciano Spalletti – together with the staff and all the Azzurri – gave evidence three bouquets of flowers (one red, one white and one green) in the place where they lost their lives on 29 May 1985 39 people due to the riots broke out before the start of the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus.
“The presence of the Azzurri in front of the site of the Heysel tragedy – commented Gravina – represents a sign of profound respect and great testimony. Memory defines us as individuals and as a movement, the pain caused by that massacre cannot and must not be forgotten, for the victims, for their families and for the whole of European football, so that tragedies like this never happen again.”
“What happened on 29 maggio 1985 it must remain in everyone’s memory, out of respect for those people and their families so that it doesn’t happen again. There are sad moments like these that must never happen again, we must make it clear that they do stadium is a place to have funto meet new people and love a sport dear to many”. This was said by the Italian coach Luciano Spalletti, in a press conference on the eve of Belgium-Italy, after the Italians took part in a ceremony commemorating the massacre at the King Baldovino stadium of Heysel. “It was a very touching moment, all of us were not born but we know the story very well, it was a tragedywe will try to honor the victims by doing our job and trying to win the match”, added Andrea Cambiaso.