Gianluca Vialli: Former Italy and Chelsea striker dies aged 58

Vialli represented the Azzurri at two World Cups and won the Champions League in 1996 with Juventus

Gianluca Vialli, the former Italy, Chelsea and Juventus striker, has died at the age of 58.

The Italian had been suffering from pancreatic cancer for many months, but his condition worsened in the lead up to Christmas.

Vialli was diagnosed with the illness for a second time in 2021, having been given the all-clear in April 2020 following a 17-month struggle.

[caption id="attachment_373109" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Vialli with the EURO 2020 trophy following Italy's triumph at Wembley. He was a member of good friend Roberto Mancini's backroom coaching staff with the national side (Getty)[/caption]

He represented the Azzurri in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, won the Champions League with Juventus in 1996 and gained popularity in England during a short spell at Stamford Bridge.

Vialli would serve as Chelsea's player-manager and then manager, leading them to the European Cup Winners' Cup and the League Cup in 1998, plus the FA Cup in 2000.

https://twitter.com/ChelseaFC/status/1611301436524044290

He was part of Roberto Mancini's coaching staff during Italy's Euro 2020 triumph last year but had recently stepped down to concentrate on his battle against the illness.

Born in Lombardy, Vialli started his career at third division Cremonese, helping them win promotion to Serie B. He quickly caught the attention of Serie A side Sampdoria, and joined the club. It was here that he formed a prolific partnership with Roberto Mancini up front, and helped the club win their first ever Serie A title in 1991. https://twitter.com/sampdoria_en/status/1611298248500682752 He finished the season as the top scorer with 19 goals and became known for his back flip celebration. During Vialli's time at the club, Sampdoria won three Italian Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup, and reached the final of the European Cup in 1992. https://twitter.com/markpougatch/status/1611299596826730496

Juventus signed Vialli for a then world record fee of £12.5million in 1992 and his success continued with triumphs in the UEFA Cup, Serie A and the Italian Cup.

https://twitter.com/bpfootball/status/1611300081327828992 https://twitter.com/footballdaily/status/1611299442606366723

But the highlight came when Juventus defeated Ajax in the 1996 Champions League final, when he partnered Alessandro Del Piero and Fabrizio Ravanelli in a formidable strikeforce.

That summer, he joined Chelsea. After a rocky relationship with manager Ruud Gullit, he was appointed player-manager at the age of 33 following Gullit's sacking in 1998. At the helm, he won the League Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup with the London side.

He then decided to retire from playing at the end of the 1998-99 season, finishing with with a career scoring record of 259 goals in 673 club games.

Internationally, he represented Italy 59 times at senior level, scoring 16 times, and was named in the team of the tournament for Euro '88 after the Azzurri reached the semi-finals.

https://twitter.com/SimonThomasTV/status/1611300091792621574

As full-time manager, Vialli won the FA Cup in 2000, beating Aston Villa 1-0 in the last final staged at the old Wembley Stadium.

He was eventually sacked just five games into the 2000-01 season though. After a brief spell in charge of Watford, he retired, and began work as a pundit. Most recently, he was a member of Mancini's coaching team when Italy won EURO 2020. https://twitter.com/Sachk0/status/1611298646905217025 Related links:

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