These are sad days for the world of football. After the death of Sinisa Mihajlovic, today, Friday 6 January 2023, the former striker of the national team and Juventus, Gianluca Vialli, died. He was 58 years old.
Died in a London hospital, where he was being treated for pancreatic cancer. His health conditions had worsened a few days after the announcement of a stop in the activity of the head of the delegation of the national team.
“At the end of a long and difficult ‘negotiation’ with my wonderful team of oncologists, I decided to suspend, hopefully temporarily, my present and future professional commitments. The goal is to use all my psycho-physical energies to help my body to overcome this phase of the disease, in order to be able to face new adventures as soon as possible and share them with all of you. A hug “, he wrote in an official statement, then released by the Italian Football Federation.
In the recent days following his hospitalization, his 87-year-old mother also visited him, and immediately left for London to be close to him with his family.
Only on Wednesday evening, 4 January 2023, Juventus fans displayed a banner in his favour: “Luca Vialli scores for us”.
Vialli is survived by his wife Cathryn, and daughters Olivia and Sofia.
Gianluca Vialli and the disease
In November 2018, the former Juventus captain spoke for the first time about his battle with cancer that began in 2017. “I’m fine now, but I’m still not sure how the match will end”. This he said to Aldo Cazzullo during an interview in Corriere Della Sera. His was a tough path, which Vialli had also shared with the viewers of “Che tempo che fa” to send a message of hope.
In December 2021 he returned to talking about the tumour during the presentation of his book: “My journey is not yet complete. The guest, as I call him, is always here with me. At the moment I am undergoing maintenance. The tumour c ‘is. Sometimes it’s more present, sometimes less. I will always fight because I want to be there for many more years. I want to be endured for a long time. If I want to fight, I owe it in particular to my family and then to friends and everyone who surround me and who give me strength and courage”.
The 58-year-old blue executive also returned to the subject in March 2022. To Alessandro Cattelan, among other things, he had revealed: “I’m afraid of dying, but cancer is not just suffering” (the interview).
