The former Italian soccer player Gianluca Vialli died this Friday at the age of 58 in a London hospital due to pancreatic cancer that he had suffered for five years and that forced him to leave his position as head of the Italian soccer team delegation on past December 14.
Vialli was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2017. He was declared in remission a year later, but the disease recurred.
The Italian Football Federation confirmed in a statement his death last night and assured that it will “never” forget his legacy.
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Born in Cremona (north), Vialli, a center forward, began his career at Cremonese in 1980 and after four seasons he signed for Sampdoria (1984), a team in which he met the ‘azzurro’ coach, Roberto Mancini, with whom he forged a friendship that went beyond the pitch and made history by winning the only ‘Scudetto’ ( 1991) that the Genoese club treasures in its record, in addition to three Italian Cups (1985, 88 and 89) and an Italian Super Cup (1991).
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the former player described cancer as “a fellow traveler” that he hoped would eventually leave him alone, after testing his mettle. “Illness can teach a lot about who you are and can push you beyond the superficial way we live,” she said.
Vialli, however, he was forced to leave his role as head of a delegation with the Italian national team last monthsaying that he needed to focus on getting through a new phase of his illness.
While working with the Italian national team, Vialli met coach Roberto Mancini, a lifelong friend. and a partner in attack when they both played for Sampdoria, where they were known as “the goal twins”.
Mancini and Vialli headed the Italian team that played Euro 2020which was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lifting the trophy at Wembley Stadium.
They celebrated with a tearful hug that “was more beautiful than the hugs we used to give each other when I passed him the ball and he scored goals,” Vialli said in a television interview with Italy’s RAI in November.
His Sampdoria team had lost the European Cup final to Barcelona at the same stadium 29 years earlier.
Vialli leaves behind a wife and two daughters.
