In 2017, Vialli, a former player for Sampdoria, Juventus, and Chelsea, received a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
At the age of 58, former Italian football great Gianluca Vialli passed away from cancer.
Sampdoria, the former team of the striker, announced his passing on Friday.
Vialli, who was born in 1964 in the northern Italian city of Cremona, had a distinguished career with the Italian teams Sampdoria and Juventus as well as the English team Chelsea. He also won 59 caps for his country.
Initially identified as having pancreatic cancer in 2017, he received the all-clear a year later, only for the condition to recur.
Vialli described cancer as “a journey companion” who he hoped would finally leave him in peace after putting him to the test in a Netflix documentary that debuted in March.
He stated, “Illness can drive you to move beyond the superficial way in which we live and can teach you a lot about who you are.
He assisted former Sampdoria attack partner and national coach Roberto Mancini during Italy’s title-winning Euro 2020 campaign in spite of the disease.
In 2021, Vialli and Mancini led Italy to the competition, winning the trophy there 29 years after their Sampdoria club had lost to Barcelona in the European Cup final.
Vialli remarked in a November television interview with Italy’s RAI that their tearful embrace was “more beautiful than the hugs we used to give one other after I threw him the ball and he scored goals.”
Vialli was forced to resign from his position as delegation leader for the Italian national team last month, citing the necessity to concentrate on overcoming a new stage of his illness.
In the documentary, he said, “I know that I probably won’t die of old age, I hope to live as long as possible, but I feel much more frail than previously.
Before joining Juventus in 1992 for a then-record 16.5 million euro transfer fee, Vialli established himself in Sampdoria over the course of eight seasons, winning the Serie A championship and European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Before joining Chelsea in 1996 and taking on the role of player-manager in 1998, he won the Champions League while playing for Juventus.
Late in the season, Vialli took over for the fired Ruud Gullit, and he later helped Chelsea win the League Cup, UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and UEFA Super Cup.
Additionally, he led Chelsea to victory in the FA Cup final in 2000 before being fired the following year.
The football legend received a final farewell from Genoa-based Sampdoria in a statement. “We have travelled a great distance together, evolving and seeking, triumphing and dreaming. We salute you as a man, you came as a boy,” it said.
The 82-year-old Brazilian football star Pele, who had a tumour removed from his colon last year, passed away a few days after Vialli.
Sinia Mihajlovi, another legend of Serie A, passed away last month after a protracted battle with leukaemia. After Vialli departed the team for Juventus, Mihajlovi joined Mancini at Sampdoria.
