Gianluca Vialli RIP

[Primo Carnera]

Desperately sad this. Not only one of the most loved footballers ever , but without a shadow of a doubt , the most intelligent.
Not your normal pro footballer, Vialli came from a family of nobility and extreme wealth. His family lived in a castle.
Very much a laid back maverick character, who built a lifelong relationship with his strike partner at Sampdoria in his early days, Roberto Mancini.
On the pitch , they had a telepathic sense of what the other was going to do and became the international strike pairing in the late 80’s , and although very easy on the eye, maybe just short in volume of goals being honest, and along came a certain Roberto Baggio to take Mancini’s place.
Off the pitch, right up until Italy’s victory in Euro 2020 they were together. Vialli was on the staff, as “head of delegation” basically just a title. The guy was there because he was an amazing spirit to have in the camp and inspired every single person around him.
He had already survived one course of treatment for his cancer, which sadly returned 4 or 5 months after the tournament.
After lunch on the day of the final, before they all went to their rooms, Vialli stood in the middle of the room and read an inspirational speech from Theodore Roosevelt that had everyone engrossed.
Also a bit of a joker, during that tournament, it became a bit of a superstitious ritual that the coach would set off , leaving him behind and stop 20 yards up the road for him to get on him.
Graeme Souness also highlighted his sense of humour yesterday when he spoke so emotionally about him yesterday.
Souness was right in that he didn’t really want to speak about him as a footballer, but as a person, because he was such a beautiful spirit.
Not that he wasn’t a great footballer. Played in Sampdoria’s team taking them from a small town team to winning the scudetto beating the giants of World Football at the time, the 2 Milan sides , Juve , Roma and Lazio all had some of the Worlds greatest players at the time.
Then went on to Juve and captained them to a champions league victory, before coming to Chelsea and playing and managing them to FA Cup and Cup Winners cup glory. 59 caps , 19 goals, a first class striker.
He is going to be sorely missed and this will hit hard in Italy.
Riposo in Pace Gianluca. x ❤️🤍💚

[Master]

I remember Vialli on channel 4 and Sampdoria in their beautiful blue strip beating the giants of Italian football. Vialli and Mancini were the goal twins with a great partnership together. Think Lombardo was there too.

I wanted Sampdoria to beat Barcelona in that European cup final as they were the underdog.

When he went to Chelsea with Zola I thought he was over the hill but he still scored goals. Also remember Vialli and Mark Hughes provide an amazing comeback against Liverpool when they were 2-0 down. When he became player manager he won loads of trophies for Chelsea and became a legend in the short time he was there.

There are many great stories about Gianluca Vialli and touching tributes. He was a genuine good guy who treated people with respect which is why he gets so much affection from ordinary people. He married an English women and stayed in London.

It was good to see him winning the Euro's in 2022 now. That was fitting for him and glad Mancini brought him in.

Gianluca Vialli RIP

[NoSavingByTheBell]

Mi ricordo Vialli in '96 with those penalty kicks 4-2 against Ajax in Rome.