Vialli’s conditions worsen: hospitalized in London

The football world is anxious about Gianluca Vialli. In these days leading up to Christmas, the terrible news of Sinisa Mihajlovic’s death was not enough, yesterday greeted for the last time in Rome by many friends, fans and ordinary people. Even Gianluca, leader of tricolor Sampdoria with Vujadin Boskov on the bench, has returned to fight the toughest battle, the one for life. The adversary is pancreatic cancer with which he has been living for five years now. Vialli defined him as “an unwanted guest”, “a travel companion that I would have gladly avoided”. His carefully chosen words to send a message to those in his condition.

the break

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Unfortunately, something was happening last Wednesday, when the former striker, via the FIGC website, announced a break from the role of head of delegation of the Azzurri. That “I hope temporarily” added referring to “the suspension of present and future commitments with the Federcalcio” had sounded an alarm bell among the many fans that Gianluca still has at the Cremonese, with whose shirt he began his career, Genoa, Sampdoria side, in black and white Turin, but also across the Channel where he played in Chelsea, a club he coached from 1998 to 2000. Yesterday from London, where the former striker moved to live years ago, the news arrived that his conditions worsened to the point of forcing him to be admitted to the clinic where Vialli had already undergone two cycles of chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer discovered in 2017. The moment is very delicate: the proof is the journey of his 87-year-old mother Maria Teresa, who left in afternoon from Cremona to England.

A signal that would confirm what no one hoped for, namely that the disease has come back to knock cruelly on Gianluca’s door. That’s why less than a week ago the former number 9 expressed his willingness to “use all his psycho-physical energies to help my body overcome this phase of the disease”. He had immediately received messages of solidarity from many former teammates (Ravanelli and Cabrini), players he had guided during his coaching career (Terry) and famous personalities from the world of football (Gravina, Marchisio) and not (Fedez, Salvini, Lapo Elkann). . All alongside Gianluca to give him the courage to fight again.

left-handed and figc

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With them, of course, also Roberto Mancini, yesterday among the friends who carried Mihajlovic’s coffin out of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. It’s a terrible moment for the blue coach: he has lost a brother like Sinisa and is now anxious about the conditions of Gianluca, the other brother. Together with him, at the end of November, he had been a guest of Fabio Fazio, at “Che tempo che fa”, to present the docufilm “La Bella Season” on the year of the blucerchiato championship. The two had smiled remembering the embrace at Wembley, after the penalties against England that had sealed the triumph at the European Championship: hearing them talk, the strong bond that exists between them seemed evident even to viewers who did not know them Well. “In that embrace – Gianluca admitted with a smile – there was the memory of the defeat at Wembley in the Champions Cup final against Barcelona, ​​the joy of having reached an unexpected goal and the fear for my health conditions. So many feelings in one shot and it all came out. A more beautiful hug than the passes I gave to Mancini to score goals”.

Roberto and Gianluca had moved many. And now everyone is waiting for news, including the “twin” Roby, in contact with his wife Cathryn White Cooper, with whom Gianluca has had two daughters, Olivia and Sofia. Even the FIGC holds its breath: the president Gravina, who in March 2019 with an assist from Mancio had brought Vialli back to the national team giving him a prestigious role, is very worried; ditto the other managers and players from the Azzurri who yesterday, when the news began to circulate, exchanged messages to understand the health situation of the head of the Italian delegation. Everyone loves him and in his battle they are ideally at his side. They had written to him last week, after the release of the suspension of office. And they hope to embrace him again soon. As well as the millions of fans who have cheered for his goals over the years. With clubs and in blue. They know that the “warrior” Vialli will still continue to fight and in the meantime they are praying for him.