A Sampdorian and a Juventus player were united by a champion, Gianluca Vialli, for them he was not just a player, but a symbol of an era. The man of the legendary Scudetto and of the best Sampdoria ever, the man of the last Champions League for Juventus,
Gianluca Vialli wasn’t just a very strong striker and a beautiful person, he was a true leader who proved he was in every circumstance. He was everywhere, more than anyone else, at Sampdoria, Juventus, Chelsea and he would also have been as a coach if he had taken that path, but he didn’t need any further confirmation, his star had already been very bright and will never go out .
For a Sampdoria fan, January 6 is a sad day because all the fans identified with Vialli, going beyond the fact that he had then left the Sampdoria team for Juventus, they had adopted him and he repaid them by giving them the most beautiful pages of their history.
For Juventus fans, it’s different, Juventus has won many league titles, but few Champions and Vialli in that season of Marcello Lippi and in the previous one gave two of the best seasons, with the 3-2 against Fiorentina, the real key match in the first Scudetto of the Lippi era, with two goals and a will to win that goes further and then with the Champions League in Rome, with the will to win that was visible on his face, as never before.
Anyone who was a teenager in those years and a Juventus fan may have wanted to be Baggio for his technique, but many wanted to be Vialli for his character, for his leadership, for his way of fighting and to come out of it perhaps with less class but with much more determination.
Vialli gave Juventus fans a dream, that great feats can be achieved if one has the character of a lion, Vialli was and he rejected it even in the moment of illness, terrible, lived with composure and with great elegance, not giving in never.
Only if you are a Sampdorian or a Juventus player do you understand today, for only one reason, because if you are a fan, the champions become your companions, idols, you adore them as loved ones or brothers and Vialli, due to his way of being, had entered into each of the fans, it was part of them. I was a teenager and I had stickers for Luca Vialli, my Juventus team cards and I felt like one of the family, even if obviously he couldn’t be…
Hi Gianluca, we will miss you, but we will never stop looking for your heir in tomorrow’s Juve champions, for attitude, desire and determination, but you will always remain unique. RIP
