Gianluca Vialli was born in Cremona, on July 9, 1964. Unlike the majority of football players he was from a wealthy background and grew up in a sort of castle.
He started playing football in 1973 for Pizzighettone near Cremona. Due to a bureaucratic problem (not uncommon in Italy) at a certain point he could not be registered for the Biancazzurri and in 1978 was sold to the Grigiorossi of Cremonese where he continued his formation.
He made his first team debut for the "Tigri" in 1980-81 in Serie C making 2 appearances. Cremonese were promoted and the following season in Serie B he made 31 league appearances with 5 goals plus 1 appearance in Coppa Italia. It was a season which saw the emergence of manager Emiliano Mondonico who took over for the last seven matches and with 5 wins (including Lazio 1-0 away) and 2 draws led Cremonese to safety.
In 1982-83 Cremonese went close to promotion, reaching a three team playoff but losing out to Catania. Vialli played 35 league games with 8 goals. It was the season Milan and Lazio were also promoted.
The following season the "Violini" did win promotion to Serie A. Vialli contributed with 37 league games and 10 goals.
Vialli at this point was in great demand and left his hometown and joined Sampdoria. In his first year, under Eugenio Bersellini, the "Sergente di Ferro" (the Iron Sergeant, for his strict discipline), Vialli played 28 league games with 3 goals (Avellino, Roma, Udinese) and 13 in Coppa Italia with 6 goals (Cavese x2, Pisa x2, Fiorentina, Milan). Sampdoria had a good season and finished 4th but more importantly won their first historic silverware, the Coppa Italia beating Milan twice .
Vialli at this point of his career was not scoring so much as he was still being used mainly on the wing and a certain Trevor Francis was centre-forward.
In 1985-86 Sampdoria finished 12th and were losing finalists in the Coppa Italia (Roma 2-3 on aggregate). Vialli played 28 league games with 6 goals (Bari, Milan, Como, Pisa x2, Lecce), 7 games in Coppa Italia and 4 in the European Cup Winners Cup.
In 1986 Sampdoria changed manager with the arrival of Vujadin Boskov. The Blucerchiati finished 12th and Vialli played 28 league games with 12 goals (Verona, Napoli, Empoli, Juventus x2, Fiorentina, Brescia, Milan, Juventus, Roma x2, Torino), 1 extra game in the UEFA slot playoff (lost to Milan) and 3 games in Coppa Italia with 4 goals (Reggiana x2, Lecce, Juventus).
This phase of his career saw his goal rate rising and this was partly thanks to Boskov who decided to play Vialli in front of goal with Roberto Mancini as the assist man.
In 1987-88 Vialli and Sampdoria had another good season. "Il Doria" finished 4th but again won the Coppa Italia (Torino 3-2 on aggregate after extra-time ). Vialli played 30 league games with 10 goals (Torino, Milan, Ascoli, Empoli x2, Verona, Como, Roma, Juventus, Napoli) plus 13 in Coppa Italia with 3 goals (Torino x2 and Torino again in the final).
The 1988-89 season saw Sampdoria finish 5th and win the Coppa Italia again (Napoli 4-1 on aggregate). They also reached two other finals but lost the European Cup Winners Cup Final 0-2 to Barcelona and the Italian Supercoppa 3-1 to Milan. Vialli played 30 league games with 14 goals (Pisa, Ascoli, Bologna, Fiorentina, Lecce, Atalanta, Pescara, Verona, Torino, Como, Pisa x2, Ascoli, Pescara), 14 in Coppa Italia with 13 goals (Cremonese x2, Modena, Padova x2, Atalanta, Bari, Monza, Fiorentina, Atalanta x2, Atalanta, Napoli), 7 in the Cup Winners Cup with 5 goals (IFK Norrkőping, Carl Zeiss Jena home and away, Dinamo Bucharest, Malines) plus the Italian Supercoppa with 1 goal (Milan). So an impressive total of 33 goals.
The 1989-90 season saw Vialli play slightly less, 22 league games with 10 goals (Lazio, Inter, Udinese, Genoa, Verona, Roma x2, Bologna, Fiorentina, Cremonese), 2 games in Coppa Italia with 2 goals (Prato, Genoa), 8 games in ECWC with 8 goals (Brann Bergen, Borussia Dortmund x2, Monaco x2, Anderlecht x2) and 1 game in the Italian Supercoppa. Sampdoria finished 5th but triumphed in Europe lifting the Cup Winners Cup in Gothenburg by beating Anderlecht 2-0 in extra-time with two Vialli goals. Sampdoria also played the Italian Supercoppa final but lost 0-2 to Inter.
The 1990-91 season was Sampdoria's masterpiece. They won the Scudetto for the first time ever. Vialli played 26 league games with 19 goals (Pisa, Napoli x2, Genoa, Roma, Inter x2, Torino, Lazio, Bologna, Juventus, Milan, Pisa, Napoli x2, Cagliari, Bari, Inter, Lecce), 7 in Coppa Italia with 3 goals (Cremonese x2, Napoli), 3 in the Cup Winners Cup with 1 goal plus 1 game in the Italian Supercoppa. The Blucerchiati also reached two finals but lost them both; the Coppa Italia 2-4 on aggregate to Roma and the European Super Cup 1-3 on aggregate to Milan. The Scudetto was enough however to last a lifetime. Vialli also had the personal satisfaction of being Serie A top scorer.
The 1991-92 season would be Vialli's last with "La Samp". In the league they finished 6th. They won the Italian Supercoppa beating Roma 1-0. They also went very close to the biggest prize of all, the European Cup, only losing to Barcelona 0-1 in extra-time (Ronald Koeman's famous freekick at Wembley). Vialli played 31 league games with 11 goals (Verona, Bari, Inter, Ascoli x2, Parma, Fiorentina, Lazio, Milan, Foggia, Cremonese), 3 games in Coppa Italia with 3 goals (Bari home and away, Roma), 11 in the European Cup with 6 goals (Rosenborg, Kispest x2, Red Star Belgrade, Anderlecht x2).
At this stage of his career having won the league and gone extremely close to the European Cup, Vialli changed clubs. He had played 328 games and scored 141 goals for Sampdoria. He and Roberto Mancini the "Gemelli del Gol" (The Goal Twins) would forever be club legends.
In 1992-93 Vialli joined Juventus. In Turin he found Giovanni Trapattoni as manager. In his first year the Bianconeri finished 4th but won the UEFA Cup beating Borussia Dortmund 6-1 on aggregate. Vialli played 32 league games with 6 goals (Atalanta, Napoli, Torino, Parma, Foggia, Lazio), 7 in Coppa Italia with 2 goals (Parma x2) and 10 in the UEFA Cup with 5 goals (Anorthosis x2, Sigma Olomouc x2, Benfica).
In 1993-94 he suffered from several injuries and only played 10 league games with 4 goals (Lazio x3, Udinese) and 2 games in the UEFA Cup. Juventus finished 2nd in Serie A.
In 1994-95 Marcello Lippi arrived as manager and things improved for the "Old Lady" and for Vialli. The Bianconeri won the double, Scudetto and Coppa Italia (Parma 2-1 on aggregate) but lost the UEFA Cup final (Parma 1-2 on aggregate). Vialli played 30 league games with 17 goals (Bari, Cremonese, Torino x2, Reggiana x2, Fiorentina x2, Roma, Brescia, Sampdoria, Cremonese, Milan, Fiorentina, Genoa, Parma, Cagliari), 7 in Coppa Italia with 3 goals (Reggiana, Roma x2) and 9 in the UEFA Cup with 2 goals (Admira Wacker, Parma).
In 1995-96 Juventus came 2nd in Serie A but won two cups. They lifted the Italian Supercoppa beating Parma 1-0 with a Vialli winner. More importantly the "Zebre" triumphed in the Champions League, defeating Ajax 4-2 on penalties (the match was 1-1) in Rome. Vialli played 30 league games with 11 goals (Piacenza x2, Vicenza, Napoli, Torino x3, Inter, Cremonese, Torino, Bari) and 7 games in Champions 6 with 2 goals (Nantes home and away in the semis).
At 32 he went for an experience in England and in 1996 joined Chelsea. At Stamford Bridge he teamed up with fellow Italians Roberto Di Matteo and Gianfranco Zola.
In his first season with the Blues, under Ruud Gullit, the Italian played 28 league games with 9 goals, plus 5 games in the FA Cup with 2 goals. Chelsea came 6th in the Premier League but triumphed in the FA Cup defeating Middlesbrough 2-0 (Di Matteo, Newton).
In Vialli's second season in London he took over from Gullit on February 12 and acted as player manager. He led the Pensioners to 4th place and won two cups. In the European Cup Winners Cup the Blues defeated Stuttgart 1-0 (Zola) while in the League Cup they beat Middlesbrough again 2-0 after extra-time (Sinclair, Di Matteo). Vialli made 21 league appearances with 11 goals, 5 in the domestic cups with 1 goal and 8 in the ECWC with 6 goals.
In 1998-99 he continued as player manager but saw less of the pitch. He made 9 league appearances with 1 goal, 6 in the domestic cups with 8 goals and 5 in the ECWC with 1 goal. Chelsea finished 3rd in the league qualifying for the following year's Champions League. They won silverware defeating Real Madrid 1-0 (Poyet) in the European Super Cup in Monte Carlo. In the Cup Winners Cup the Blues were knocked out in the semis by Mallorca who would then be beaten by Lazio 2-1 in the final in Birmingham.
In 1999-2000 he hung up his boots and concentrated on being Chelsea manager. He led the Londoners to 5th place but triumphed in the FA Cup defeating Aston Villa 1-0 at Wembley (Di Matteo ... again).
In 2000-01 Vialli started the season but was replaced by fellow Italian Claudio Ranieri on September 12. Vialli did win another trophy however, the Charity Shield beating Manchester United 2-0 (Hasselbaink, Melchiot).
In 2001-2002 he became manager of Watford in the Old First Division (now The Championship). After a disappointing 14th place he was sacked and started a long legal battle with the Hornets over salary payment issues.
That would be his last job as a manager as he then went into punditry and television work.
At international level he won 59 caps for Italy with 16 goals. He took part in two World Cups '86 and '90 plus Euro '88. He won bronze at Italia '90. He also played 21 games for the U21's with 11 goals, winning a bronze medal in Euro '84 and silver in '86.
In 2019 he started working for the national team with his old friend Roberto Mancini who was manager. His experience and charisma were of great help in Italy's Euro 2020 triumph. This was to be his last contribution to football. He died of pancreatic cancer, on January 6, 2022, in London.
As a player Vialli started as a winger and then, thanks to Azeglio Vicini first and subsequently Vujadin Boskov, evolved into a striker. He was a complete player in the sense he could do everything. He was technical, fast, dynamic and resistant. He had a strong character and good leadership qualities. He was also known for his acrobatic skills leading famous Italian journalist Gianni Brera to nickname him "Stradivialli". For the majority he kept his nickname "Topolino" (Little Mouse) due to his physical appearance and ears in particular.
He is considered to have been one of the best strikers of his generation and the duo Mancini-Vialli one of the best ever.
The whole of Italy, football fans and non, were deeply saddened by his premature passing. R.I.P Gianluca Vialli.
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