Gianluca Vialli has died, soccer world united in grief

Countless messages of condolence for the passing of Gianluca Vialli

The soccer world forgets divisions and rivalries and rallies around the family of Gianluca Vialli, who died Friday in London at just 58 years old after a long battle with cancer.

“Gianluca fought strenuously, leaving us an unforgettable lesson in life,” commented Lorenzo Casini, president of Lega Serie A, “and we will always remember him as a man who faced a terrible illness head-on. He, like Sinisa, courageously walked a difficult path, providing an example that was a great help to all. They were champions on and off the field.”

The clubs whose shirts he wore in official matches dedicated an immediate thought to their former bomber. “You will remain an indelible example of our essence, Luca,” Cremonese wrote on its social channels. “Ciao Luca,” accompanied by a broken heart, was the message from Sampdoria, which then dedicated a long letter to Vialli in which it imagines an embrace with Paolo Mantovani and Vujadin Boskov, president and coach of the great Samp of the late 1980s-early 1990s. “Ciao Gianluca” is the message from Juventus, Vialli’s last Italian club. Chelsea, on its official website, called him a “Legend,” greeting him with immense sorrow and recalling the successes of a club that precisely with Vialli’s arrival returned to top positions in England.

Even clubs that Vialli faced as an opponent have dedicated an emotional thought: “A great sportsman, on and off the field,” is what AC Milan published through their social profiles; “Noble opponent and example of courage,” one reads instead on Inter’s website. Aurelio De Laurentiis, president of Napoli, called him on Twitter “unforgettable champion and example of great human depth.”