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Gianluca Vialli died: that hug forever

This is the article no one wanted to write why say goodbye to Gianluca Vialli it means greeting a part of the life of many. A generation grew up watching him play football in a Sampdoria that was a jewel and a miracle, a team capable of winning in spite of the big names in football thanks to him and Roberto Mancini. They were the goal twins. They came from two different worlds and became friends forever, from Mantovani’s Sampdoria to Euro 2020 in an endless embrace.

Vialli and ManciniMichael Reagan – UEFA

Gianluca Vialli was born on 9 July 1964 in Cremona, the youngest of five children of an upper-class family. His father’s company built prefabs. He lived with his family in a castle in Grumello Cremonese. Like most of his generation, he learned football with catechism at the oratory. His first team was Pizzighettone and then Cremonese where he made his debut in the first team at the age of 16, leaving his studies. Then comes the Sampdoria: the Coppa Italia, the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup, lost and the one won, in 1991 the Scudetto. Next to him Roberto Mancini, from Jesi, a more popular family, who grew up in football in Bologna, far from home. A perfect couple.

After the Sampdoria fairy tale, with the Champions Cup final lost against Barcelona, ​​Vialli goes to the Juventus. Playing for Juventus was a burden and an honor for him. «Feel the weight of the shirt, the duty to return it by folding it well and placing it a little higher than where you took it. And then Turin, which had a reputation as a cold and gray city, is actually wonderful». As captain, in black and white he won the Champions Cup on 22 May 1996, beating Ajax on penalties at the Olimpico stadium in Rome. He ends his career at Chelsea and in England he will remain as a coach and manager. His family is here: his wife Cathryn Cooper, a former model of South African origin, and their two daughters Olivia and Sofia.

He plays in the national team Euro 1998 and Italy 90, but he was already in Mexico 86. He didn’t go to Usa 94, excluded by Sacchi: «He excluded me, convinced that my doubts would create negative energies in the group; and he was right. I was wrong to refuse, when he called me back twice, before and after the ’94 World Cup. I acted touchy. The blue shirt never refuses».

The President of the Republic also said it: Gianluca Vialli expressed the feelings and emotions that we all felt on TV.

Under Mancini Vialli’s management he became the Azzurri’s head of delegation, a commitment he left due to illness in December 2022, and is in everyone’s eyes the embrace in the victorious Euro 2020 between the two who became brothers on the pitch and remained lifelong friends when they stopped playing. It is impossible to think of Vialli without Mancini and vice versa, on and off the pitch, and that embrace full of beautiful tears is its most beautiful symbol.

Since 2017 he has been dealing with pancreatic cancer. He would not have used these words. «He got on the train with me and I have to go on, travel with my head down, never giving up, hoping that one day this unwanted guest will get tired and let me live peacefully for many more years because there are still many things I want to do» he told in the Rai docuseries Blue Dream who followed the path of the Italian national team towards the European Championship.

He told his story in a book, Goals. 98+1 stories to face the toughest challenges. The 99th story is his and are six pages that everyone should read. He explained to Alessandro Cattelan: «I am convinced that our children follow our example more than our words. I have less time to lead by example, now that I know I won’t die of old age. My every behavior leads me to think like this. In this sense I try to be a positive example: I try to teach them that happiness depends on the perspective from which you look at life, that you don’t have to put on airs, listen more and talk less. Laugh often, help others. This is the secret of happiness».

Vialli’s memory cannot fail to pass through these words which tell of his courage and desire not to make others suffer, of the will to motivate the players and not just them. “I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say: “Thanks to you, I didn’t give up”», he writes in the book. A man cannot miss who said of cancer that it is not an enemy to be defeated, “it is a challenge to change oneself”. Gianluca Vialli has made us better and for this reason we will never stop embracing him.

More stories from Vanity Fair that may interest you:

– Because Maradona is still with us

– From Benzema to Leao, football crowns its new kings

– Milan, memories from the Champions League: We were good together

Source: Vanity Fair

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