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10 years of FIFGIANLUCA VIALLI PASSES AWAY AGED 58 FOLLOWING SECOND BATTLE WITH PANCREATIC CANCER
Gianluca Vialli was one of the original cult heroes of Italian football towards the end of the 21st century, starring as a striker for both Sampdoria and then Juventus. He went on to become one of the folk legends of English football at Chelsea, first as a player and then as a manager in the pre-Roman Abramovich era. He sadly lost his battle with pancreatic cancer for the second time on Friday.
Former Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea forward Gianluca Vialli has passed away at the age of 58 following a second battle with pancreatic cancer, it has been confirmed.Vialli was part of a legendary Sampdoria side that took Italy and Europe by storm in the late 80s and early 90s, winning Serie A in 1990-91 amongst other honours.
He formed an iconic partnership up front with childhood friend Roberto Mancini, with the pair dubbed I Gemelli del Gol in Italian, which translates to "The Goal Twins."
He then moved to Jvuentus for what was then a world-record fee of £12.5m and won another Serie A title, as well as the Champions League in the 1995-96 season.
He then went abroad to England and won the FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup with Chelsea, becoming a folk hero at Stamford Bridge.
In 1998 he was appointed as player-manager of Chelsea after the sacking of Ruud Gullit and it was that Cup Winners' Cup that came that season, making him the youngest manager to ever win a
UEFA competition, until Andre Villas-Boas broke that record with Porto.
In the past few years he had a very public battle with pancreatic cancer, being given the all-clear in 2020. However he confirmed in December 2021 that the cancer had returned.
Gianluca Vialli passes away aged 58 following second battle with pancreatic cancer
Gianluca Vialli was one of the original cult heroes of Italian football towards the end of the 21st century, starring as a striker for both Sampdoria and Juve.
www.eurosport.com
