The shining eyes of those who have lost a brother, even if not by blood. Roberto Mancini remembers Gianluca Vialli at Porta a Porta, a companion in hundreds of battles on a football field and a lifelong friend. Luca tells us that he didn't want to surrender to the disease, always smiling and combative, even in the toughest moments.

To the point that «he told me that we had to win the 2026 World Cup and that he would be with us - says the national team coach -. He will certainly be very close to us and we hope to dedicate a great victory to him soon». The two last saw each other in London before the end of the year. "I went to see him, but I was a little scared - he says -. He woke up, we laughed, joked, called Attilio Lombardo. He told me I'm serene, do n't worry. It was he who cheered me up and not the other way around. He was very lucid, we met again as we parted: good ».

A very strong bond united Vialli and Mancini, cemented over the years at Sampdoria and which distance has never erased. Yet the coach does not immediately find out about Luca's illness. «He didn't talk to me at the beginning - reveals Mancini - He only told me in 2019 so as not to make me suffer, adding that he was being treated. But it was very positive because he's always been a fighter. Many things have changed since that day, the time that passed and the hope that he would make it. Up until the end we hoped for a miracle." Mancini then has an indelible memory of his years at Sampdoria because «we played in attack and we were completely different, but perfectly complementary. For me he was one of the greatest strikers in the world, he could have played today too. I was his assistant." Among Mancio's most beautiful assists to Vialli, however, there is that embrace between the two at Wembley after the victory of the European Championship. As if to forget even for a second what was in everyday life. «It was a moment that encompassed everything on a sporting level and beyond. He wasn't well yet, but I hope that hug relieved him a bit.'

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