Former star Italy striker Gianluca Vialli dies aged 58

MILAN: Former soccer striker Gianluca Vialli, who earned 59 caps for Italy and loved a stellar membership profession with Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea, has died from most cancers on the age of 58.

Vialli was recognized with pancreatic most cancers in 2017. He was given the all-clear a yr later just for the sickness to return.

Sampdoria confirmed on Friday (Jan 6) that he had died.

“We have now come a good distance collectively, rising and looking, successful and dreaming. You got here as a boy, we salute you as a person,” Genoa-based Sampdoria mentioned of their assertion.

“I do know that I in all probability is not going to die of outdated age, I hope to reside so long as potential, however I really feel way more fragile than earlier than,” Vialli had mentioned in a Netflix documentary aired in March 2022.

He described most cancers as “a journey companion” that he hoped would ultimately go away him in peace, after testing his mettle. “Sickness can educate so much about who you might be, and might push you to transcend the superficial means by which we reside,” he mentioned.

Vialli was nevertheless pressured to step except for his function as head of a delegation with the Italian nationwide group final month, saying he wanted to deal with overcoming a brand new section of his illness.

Working with the Italy squad, Vialli had been reunited with nationwide coach Roberto Mancini, a lifelong buddy and strike accomplice once they each performed for Sampdoria, the place they had been often known as “the aim twins.”

Mancini and Vialli led the Italians to the Euro 2020 match, which was delayed till 2021 as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, lifting the trophy in Wembley Stadium.

They celebrated with a tearful embrace that “was extra lovely than the hugs we used to offer one another once I handed him the ball and he scored targets,” Vialli mentioned in a TV interview with Italy’s RAI in November.

Their Sampdoria group had misplaced the European Cup closing to Barcelona on the similar venue 29 years earlier.